The Demon Twins of Konoha
by ShadowGS
Summary: The Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi not just inside his son, but inside his daughter too. Now they both have to survive in this ninja world of deceit and lies. And what's up with the Uchiha Twins? Fem!Sasuke OC Brother Smart!Naruto OC Sister. Slightly AU. No pairings decided yet.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

The Uchiha Clan.

One of the most prestigious and powerful clans in the Village of Konoha, only rivaled by the Hyūga Clan.

The one thing that made the name Uchiha feared and praised at the same time was their unique bloodline limit, a Dōjutsu known as the Sharingan.

Though, because of the power granted by the Sharingan, most of the Uchiha population grew arrogant and thought of themselves as a superior race.

One of their ancestor, a man called Uchiha Madara, along with Senju Hashirama, also known as the first Hokage, founded Konohagakure.

Uchiha Madara already had a superior Sharingan, the Mangekyō Sharingan. Still, the hunger for power blinded the man and he used unknown methods to evolve it to its final stages. The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

He couldn't accept Hashirama Senju as a better ninja. Not anymore. Not when he achieved the power to call himself a God. He challenged the First Hokage to a battle and they fought until they could no more.

The fight itself was legendary. It lasted for days with neither showing any kind of exhaustion. They clashed and clashed with powerful and destructive jutsus that molded the landscape to their whim. Later it got the name of Valley of the End.

At the end Uchiha Madara summoned a demon, The Nine-tailed Fox, in order to win the battle. What he didn't expect was the wife of Hashirama Senju, Uzumaki Mito, to seal the demon inside of herself. He should've thought that the damn Uzumaki could use seals to this extent.

With his trump card easily defeated, Hashirama finished the fight with him as the winner. Uchiha Madara lost.

Sadly, after the defection of their leader, nobody thought the same about the Uchiha. They deemed every single one of them, be kid or old, a threat.

After a few years, in the reign of the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, the Uchiha decided to make a name for themselves once again and founded the Konoha Military Police Force. They gained the Hokage and the village trust once again.

Even though some of the Uchiha wanted the same power that Uchiha Madara had, the secret to gain the Mangekyō Sharingan was lost. They still were one of the most powerful ninjas in the village, but no one even neared the power to become Hokage.

And luck wasn't on their side either.

Years later, when the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato was in charge, the worst that could happen… occurred.

Someone summoned once again the demon of the nine tails, known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune. A huge nine-tailed orange fox. The same demon that Uchiha Madara used against Senju Hashirama.

The fox attacked the village mercilessly, leaving trails of death behind. It destroyed buildings, streets, schools, hospitals. Everything at it's path was annihilated.

Hundreds of ninjas tried to protect their village with all their might, but it was meaningless. Every single one of them died.

The fox continued on it's path of destruction until a flash of yellow brought the village a little of hope. The Fourth Hokage transported the gigantic fox out of the village with his legendary technique, the Hiraishin no Jutsu

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, watched all this with a sombre expression. He just heard the news about his late wife's fate, and he also knew what the Namikaze was thinking.

Hiruzen moved through the rooftops at speeds that most ninja would only dream of having. He heard a roar in the outskirts of the village and the old man practically disappeared from view.

Nevertheless, all of his years training as a shinobi didn't prepared for the sight he was about to see.

One of the huge nails of the fox… piercing right through one Namikaze Minato and his wife, Uzumaki Kushina. Hiruzen watched in horror as Kushina kept talking even though she was impaled. Then he noticed the altar in front of the couple… a pair of little babies.

The defenses of the mighty 'Professor' as the people in the village liked to call Hiruzen, were crumbling at the sight. A mother saying her last words to her newborn babies, as her life slowly fade away and the blood of both parents fell into the stomach of both babies. The little ones cried, like they knew something bad was happening around them.

Hiruzen didn't even give the huge fox a side-glance. A lone tear fell to the ground as he watched his inheritor flash through some hand-seals he knew too well. "Fūinjutsu: Shiki Fūjin" Minato yelled at the same time as Hiruzen whispered. There was a flash of white light that blinded the Third Hokage and then… it was gone.

He looked around and he couldn't see Minato, nor Kushina. Not even the Kyuubi. He was alone at the clearing… or so he thought until he heard a baby cry.

The Third Hokage dashed through the woods until he was in front of an altar with twin babies in it. They still had some blood of their parents on their stomachs, something that made even Hiruzen's stomach to turn. They both have complicated seals array on their stomach and Hiruzen knew in that moment that they were now in fact Jinchūriki. "Power of Human Sacrifice".

The twins now were the jailers of the mighty demon, who was now sealed inside them.

Hiruzen sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was going to be a problem. He just felt it.

Another cry awoke him from his thoughts and he took some time to inspect the twins. One of them had a mop of red hair and was certainly a girl with 3 whisker marks on each of her cheeks. She opened her eyes a moment to reveal beautiful violet orbs. The spitting image of her mother.

The baby to her side had blond hair and appeared calmer than his sister. He was definitely a boy. His clear-sky blue eyes were watching everything curiously. He was just like his father.

The Third Hokage knew their names, as Kushina told him a few months ago. The red-headed girl was name after her grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, while the blond boy was name after a character of one of his students books, Naruto. Mito Uzumaki and Naruto Uzumaki.

Hiruzen carefully grabbed the twins and held them with a possessiveness that surprised even him. He wouldn't let their legacy be ashamed. He would protect the twins with everything he had. He decided on that moment that his vacation was now over. Sarutobi Hiruzen was Hokage once again.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Uchiha District, a certain raven-haired boy held both of his new siblings protectively.

His mother gave birth to twins a few months ago and since then he felt that it was his job to protect them against anything.

He felt the malice and hatred of _that _chakra all the way from the outskirts of the village to the Uchiha District. He couldn't let his new family to get hurt while his father and mother were away investigating what just happened. He watched as a tiny navy-haired newborn girl and boy stirred on his arms.

Sasuki and Yuu Uchiha.

Their older brother didn't even notice how everything seemed clear even though it was night time. A pair of red eyes with two tomoe each stood and guarded the twins through the night. Itachi Uchiha just awakened his Sharingan at the age of 6.

And he was going to use this power to protect his siblings.

* * *

**AN: Hey guys, just an idea I had a while ago. First story I ever write so don't be so harsh and stuff... though be critic and honest. I really want to improve and a few words from you will help me very much.**

**Fūinjutsu: Shiki Fūjin (Sealing Technique: Dead Demon Consuming Seal)**  
**Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)**


	2. Ch 1: New Training and the Toad Sage

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There I said it.

* * *

It has been a year since the tragic event of the nine-tailed fox and the village was still recovering from its lost.

The sheer number of ninja and civilians they lost that October 10th really put Konohagakure in a dangerous position.

Though they were still considered the most powerful ninja village of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, it was because of one decision that Hiruzen Sarutobi still regret.

The old man reinstated his place as the Hokage and tried to manage the village the best he could, but the threat of one of the other villages attacking them now that they knew they were weak was astounding.

So he decided to put faith on his people and announced that they had the Jinchūriki of the most powerful Bijū, the Kyuubi.

The results weren't what he expected.

Every single civilian turned deaf and blind and demanded the death of the jailers. Even though they were no older than a few days.

The old Hokage immediately regretted his decision and created an S-class law which prohibited everyone who knew anything concerning the Kyuubi's fate to never talk about it ever again. The punishment against breaking that law was death.

Hiruzen sighed tiredly and passed a hand through his white hair. He was too old for this.

But not everything was bad news. Like The Professor wanted, the other villages learnt about the Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi and were now reluctant to attack his village. At the contrary, he had more alignment pleas than before. Power-hungry bastards.

Now the Uzumaki twins were living in an orphanage. The son and daughter of the feared Fourth Hokage living in an orphanage. Who would've thought?

But, Hiruzen admitted, it was the best course of action. He couldn't let any clan get their hands on the Jinchūriki. Not because he didn't trust them, the head of the Hyūga clan, Hyūga Hiashi was close a friend with Namikaze Minato and most of the other clan heads too with the exception of Uchiha Fugaku, but because the civilian council wouldn't let him. They used his own laws against him.

Another issue was with the Uchiha clan.

Now the council was even more suspicious of them and demanded that they were exiled from the village. Hiruzen couldn't do much since everyone approved of that decision suggested by the Elders and his old teammates, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

Saying that the Uchiha were furious was an understatement. Now the thought of a coup d'état leaded by the Uchiha was slowly creeping into the old Hokage. Though he hoped that he was wrong. That was the only thing he could do now. Hope.

* * *

"Itachi." The ever stoic voice of the Uchiha clan head, Fugaku, addressed his son.

The boy was now 7 years old and was labelled as a prodigy in all the village. Awakened the Sharingan a year ago and now he almost full mastered it. He already graduated from the academy and was top of his class. Rookie of the year.

To say that Fugaku was proud was a huge understatement, but he wouldn't let this emotion show. His son was the perfect Uchiha and was now watching him with a impassive and emotionless face.

"Father" Itachi said in a monotone voice and bowed low in front of him. He wore an ANBU suit even though he was far from entering and his raven hair was tied in a small pony-tail that stopped on his shoulders.

"You did acceptable in your training today. You can now see your siblings." When Fugaku finished the sentence a small smile appeared on his usually stoic son. Itachi nodded and bowed once again in gratitude. Once the boy was out of hearing range, Fugaku sighed and let his shoulders drop.

Oh, he did feel bad for doing this to his son. No, more than that. He felt awful. But it was needed to be done.

He used Itachi's desire to be around his twin siblings to push the Uchiha boy to train harder than he, an adult, couldn't even do it. But it was needed in order to put his elder son in the ANBU and spy the Hokage.

Once the village was his he would let Itachi see his brother and sister all he wanted. Fugaku thought that even himself could play with his children like a normal family was supposed to be. They would be all happy in the end.

* * *

"Hey there Yuu-kun, Sasuki-chan" The calm voice of Uchiha Itachi sounded through the room and the pair of babies stirred awake to their brother's voice.

Sasuki's hair was longer and a lighter tone of color than her twin brother Yuu. They both had the same big and round onyx-colored eyes. With those eyes they could get whatever they wanted.

Itachi gently traced a finger through his sister's cheek and she giggled cutely. Yuu merely watched the interaction with curious eyes.

The twin boy was always calmer and silent than his sister. Sasuki was more loud and liked to annoy his brother by grabbing his ear while he slept.

Itachi was more than happy when they saw his baby sibling's antics. He even laughed sometimes. He didn't remember when was the last time he laughed. Well he did, but again it was because of the twins interaction.

"I-Itachi" the cute voice of a little girl sounded through Itachi's ears and he admitted that he won't ever be bored of his sibling's voice. It was so damn cute hearing a pair of babies saying his name over and over again.

He knew what his little sister wanted when he called him and he carefully lifted her and place her on his arms. The little girl watched him with her big, cute eyes and a yawn escaped her lips. Itachi rocked her slowly and her eyes started to drop until the Uchiha boy knew she was asleep.

He placed her down once again on her bed that she shared with Yuu and said boy was still watching his every single movement around his sister.

"What is it?" Itachi asked calmly and with a hint of amusement. The baby boy tilted his head lightly to a side at his brother voice and Itachi laughed a little. "Are you worried that I will take Sasuki-chan away?" Once again the boy looked clueless at his brother but then opened his mouth,

"Sa-suki…" Itachi's eyes widened as it was the first time they said something different from 'Itachi'.

The Uchiha prodigy pointed at his sleeping sister and nodded his head, "That's right, her name is Sasuki. She's your sister."

Yuu looked at where Itachi was pointing and saw his sister sleeping "Sis…ter"

Itachi seemed ecstatic… well as much as he could seem. His smile was bigger than any of his previous smiles. He lifted Yuu too and he showed some discomfort at being picked up. Of course, Itachi knew that his brother didn't like to be rocked that much as Sasuki, but he wanted to put him right beside her.

Yuu looked weirdly at Itachi when he put him down next to Sasuki, but he was happy that his brother didn't rocked him again. He turned and he was facing his twin sister. "Sasuki…" That was the last thing Itachi heard and then both of his siblings were asleep once again.

They didn't played much today, but it was late and Itachi knew that they were both tired. The Uchiha boy knew that Sasuki will be mad if he didn't visit them at least once a day, and he didn't want his little baby sister to be mad at him.

Now that he thought about it, he was also damn tired because of all the training his father put him through today.

Itachi hardened his gaze when he thought about his father. He didn't even see his twin son and daughter anymore. The only ones who take care of them were his mother Mikoto, Shisui and himself.

The prodigy didn't know what his father was planning, but he knew it was something bad. If he ever put his siblings in danger he would kill him.

Itachi shook his head from that line of thought. He shouldn't be thinking about that, and even less when he was in his twin siblings room. With a sigh he left the room with a last look to the pair of babies sleeping in the bed. Yuu was holding his sister hand and was mumbling lightly on his sleep. "Sasuki… sister…"

A small smile appeared once again on Itachi's face and he closed the door quietly.

* * *

(3 Years Later)

"Itachi-nii! Wait for me!" Sasuki cried from the entrance of the clan head house. Said boy turned and addressed his sister with a small smile on his usual stoic face.

"What is it, Sasuki-chan?" Itachi waited for his sister that was actually running to meet him. He recently passed the Chūnin Exams and had a meeting to attend, but everything could wait for his sister.

Said girl was panting a little at his side, grabbing him at his pants sleeve. She wore a dark-blue shirt and light-gray shorts that stopped at mid-thigh. Her royal blue colored hair was braided in two pony tails that stopped at shoulder length. "I was wondering…" now she looked right at him with those damned puppy eyes of hers "if you could train with me, Itachi-nii"

The Uchiha prodigy sighed dramatically and patted his sister on the head, winning a pout and something that sounded like 'baka-niisan'.

"You know that I have work to do, Sasuki-chan. Why don't you tell father to train with you?" As soon as this words left his mouth, Sasuki seemed crestfallen and she let her shoulders drop.

"He's busy…" Sasuki whispered sadly and Itachi's eyebrow rose, indicating her to elaborate. She sighed and she found a rock on the path to be more interesting than Itachi's piercing gaze. Taking a deep breath she yelled at her brother, "He's training Yuu okay!? He told me that he was going to start my training again when I awakened the Sharingan thingy…"

'Right, that was so obvious Itachi, and now you've sadden her even more. Great' Itachi thought and embraced her little sister, who stiffed at his hug.

"You don't have to worry much Sasuki-chan… the Sharingan will come eventually, no need to bother with it right now." Itachi said calmly and felt her sister nod at his chest. "Plus, the Sharingan is just a tool for us to use, we can't depend always on it. Other skills are as important or even more than awakening it… so…" he trailed off and shifted his gaze to a side.

"So…" Sasuki continued with a cute smile that could disarm anybody.

With a sigh, Itachi's shoulders slumped and he nodded at his sister, making her beam at him with an even bigger smile. "Okay, okay… we'll train…" Sasuki quickly returned the hug and laughed "But…" Oh there were always buts. Sasuki looked at his brother, indicating him to continue "you have to invite Yuu-kun too."

Sasuki visibly deflated and lowered her head "Why?…"

Itachi shook his head and stood once more, standing a few heads above his sister even though he was just 10 years old. "He's your brother too Sasuki-chan, and mine as well. He cares for you as much as I do."

"But he always gets everything he wants! It's always 'Yuu-kun' this and 'Yuu-kun' that!" Sasuki yelled and glared at her brother, who simply watched with something akin to… amusement? in his eyes.

"Did he… tried to convince father otherwise?" Itachi asked and her sister lost the glare quickly and looked at him with a doubtful expression.

"Convince father otherwise…?" She repeated and assumed a think pose, with a finger to her chin.

Itachi nodded and signaled his sister to follow him, "That's right. Did he protest agains father training with him and not with you?"

"Well… he was mad… he gets mad when father 'no' listen to me. And he 'sorries' me…"

"He apologizes, Sasuki. Even though he doesn't do anything wrong." Itachi concluded for her with a small smile, "Do you see? He does care about you and he's probably angry at father for playing favorites… but no one can go against father orders. He's the clan head."

Sasuki seemed to get it and nodded with a serious expression "Then… if he orders everyone to ignore me… would y-"

Itachi silenced her with another hug, without letting her finish what she was saying, "Of course not Sasuki-chan. I will definitely disobey… and mother too. And certainly Yuu-kun. Perhaps even Shisui-san. They're all your friends and family and would definitely go against any order for you."

"I… see now." Sasuki smiled and nodded, hugging his brother back. "Thank you Itachi-nii…"

Itachi let her sister go, watching as she ran through the clan's district streets. She paused for a moment and turned to him, "Remember our training!" She yelled and when Itachi nodded she took off once again.

The Uchiha prodigy hardened his gaze once his sister was out and kept walking out the Uchiha district. Just a month ago Yuu awoke his Sharingan at the mere age of 4, even beating his old record of 6. It was an impressive development and his father was completely ecstatic about it. Sadly, Itachi was out for a mission and couldn't stop his greedy father to put his baby brother into the hell Fugaku calls training.

Now Itachi was worried that his younger brother will not have a normal childhood and that his father would completely turn him into one of his weapons. Thanks to Kami that Yuu was still showing displays of kindness and wasn't completely devoted to training, still caring for his sister.

And now Sasuki felt excluded. All thanks to that idiot of his father. Oh, he will talk to him and make him go back into his senses. Itachi wasn't sure he could beat Fugaku in a battle right now, since he was technically a mere Chūnin and his father was a Jōnin with many years of experience, excluding the fact that he was a clan head. He needed to train if he wanted to beat his father. But he certainly will. For his brother and sister.

With that in mind, Itachi diverted from his original way to the meeting into the training grounds. The boy stood in front of a huge tree and started doing hand-seals at a impressive speed.

* * *

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" A navy-haired boy yelled as a huge fireball was exhaled from his mouth, burning a few trees in its destructive path. The boy was panting hard and felt to his knees when he heard someone clapping behind him.

"Impressive Yuu. Now you see one of the most known abilities of the Sharingan. It allows the user to copy any technique, including ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu. This simple fire jutsu would've took you weeks to master, but with the power of our Dōjutsu it only takes a glance." Fugaku said in monotone, addressing his younger son with a huge amount of hidden pride. He mastered one of the most prized techniques of the Uchiha in just one day! Not that he would show it, but he was proud. Hell he could say that he was prouder than with Itachi!

Yuu nodded and stood once again, though he was still panting badly. "I understand, tou-sama." His navy hair was short, not passing his neck, and it almost covered his right eye. He should cut it off soon. He also wore a blue long-sleeved shirt and black shorts with some kunai and shrunken pouches at his belt.

"You still need all the 7 hand-seals in order to perform the jutsu. I want you to decrease that to 3 by the end of this week. Also, don't slack off in your taijutsu stances."

The Uchiha baby boy bowed low to his father and said in a emotionless tone, "I will decrease it to 2 father. I have completely mastered the basics of the Uchiha's taijutsu if I say so, thanks to the scrolls you gave me. I just need someone to spar with and more experience on the field."

Fugaku gave a rare small smile and dismissed his younger son, "I hope you don't disappoint me, Yuu."

Said boy nodded and answered his father, "I won't." He walked to his home in order to take a bath and probably take a nap because he was damn tired.

The Uchiha clan head watched his son disappear from the forest clearing into the Uchiha District. He turned around once again to the flames of the technique Yuu just fired. They were still burning the trees that weren't obliterated by the sheer power of the jutsu. Fugaku smiled at its fullest at the damage done. The Gōkakyū no Jutsu was one of the most used techniques by the Uchiha and it wasn't possible to learn unless you had higher reserves than the normal Genin.

That meant that Uchiha Yuu had not only awoke the Sharingan at the mere age of 4, but also had chakra reserves higher than most Genin. Fugaku actually laughed at that. What were the chances!? Two of his son were prodigies and the younger one was possibly the strongest Uchiha ever born! Thinking about his family, his thoughts wandered around a certain navy-haired girl. Sasuki wasn't a genius of geniuses that he knew of, but the girl still had talent.

Sadly, he didn't have the time of the day and the girl would only slow Yuu down. He should probably assign her a tutor while he trained Itachi and Yuu. Perhaps he could get even Mikoto to train Yuu in her legendary kenjutsu. Yeah he should do just that!

Thinking about a new training regime for his son, he decided that Genjutsu was a must. The Uchiha were natural in this and the Sharingan only complemented their abilities.

Taijutsu… well, he could teach his son some of the more advanced stances and counters. Also, some weights won't hurt at all. He knew that too much was bad for his growing body, so he was going to be careful with that. Increase his daily exercises? Indeed. A hundred push-ops, abs, sit ups and squash sounded fine, a few laps around the Uchiha District…

With Ninjutsu definitely chakra control exercises. With the enormous reserves of his son he would need control pretty bad. He could _feel_ all the chakra Yuu wasted on his jutsu. Though it increased its destructiveness by far. And his fire affinity was more than obvious. He could give him a few more fire techniques if he didn't disappoint him…

Yeah, disappointment wasn't an option.

* * *

Yuu waited outside his house door for his mother to open it. What? He couldn't reach the knob yet. Well he could jump or use some kind of shinobi thing… but he was tired, sore and dirty. All he wanted was to bathe and fall asleep.

"Coming!" A different voice from his mother's came from inside the house and it could be just one person. And Yuu doubted his sister wanted to see him. She was mad at him because father decided to train him alone… again. He tried to make his father to rationalize, but he just ignored him and kept stubborn. With a sigh Yuu leaned on the door frame and waited for his sister.

The door opened to reveal a girl the exact same stature as him, with a towel on her head. Sasuki gasped when she saw the state his brother was in right there.

"Yuu! Are you alright?" Yuu blinked a few times, not expecting his sister to be like normal again. He expected a yell or a scowl, but Sasuki only looked at him with worry in her eyes.

When he saw that his sister was waiting for an answer he smiled sheepishly "Oh, yeah I am Sasuki. Tou-sama's just a little hard when training."

Sasuki scowled, but nevertheless hurried her brother into the house. "Wait for me in the bathroom." She said with finality in her voice and rapidly dashed into the big house before Yuu could open his mouth.

"Wh-what?" Yuu felt ashamed of how high-pitched his voice sounded there and walked in auto-pilot to the bathroom.

After a few minutes of just waiting, his sister finally appeared with… bandages and disinfectant?

"OUCH! IT HURTS!" Yuu screamed at full voice as his sister kept nursing his injuries, ignoring his outburst.

Sasuki sighed and shook her head in a disappointed manner. "You're such a baby Yuu."

"BUT I AM!" Yuu cried once again and tears fell from his eyes. He started training with his father along with Sasuki a year ago, but never got injured like this. He wasn't accustomed to pain.

"There, there. It's over now." Sasuki gently wiped his brother tears and patted him in the shoulders.

The boy sniffed and sniffed again, "Why didn't we wait for okaa-sama?" He understood that they were just babies and babies didn't have to do this kind of stuff!

"Kaa-san said that injuries were to be treated as soon as possible. Who knows when she'll come back?" Sasuki commented in a matter-of fact tone of voice.

Yuu now calmer stood up from his position and started to dress once again, "What are you talking about? She'll come back before dinner you dummy."

A tick mark appeared on Sasuki's head and she huffed from her brother, "I was worried about you okay? And who are you calling dummy you dummy?"

Yuu's eyes widened and a small smile crossed his face, "Sorry about that Sasuki. It was just… it hurt too much."

The girl nodded, now with her irritation forgotten, stood up beside her brother and both of them decided in a silent agreement to wait for their mother in the meeting room.

* * *

"Hey Jii-san when are you going to teach us powerful jutsu? We are ready to become ninja 'ttebane!" A chubby red-haired girl yelled defiantly at one of the most powerful ninjas in the village, if not the most powerful.

"Mito-chan! Show proper respect to Hokage-sama!" A blond boy about the same height as the girl scolded her with a little frown on his face.

The Third Hokage chuckled at the Uzumaki Twins antics and gained both of their attention. "Now now Naruto-kun, there is no need to be so strict with your 'Jii-san' right?"

Hiruzen's voice was dripping with amusement and he almost broke off in laughter when said boy opened and closed his mouth in shock.

"B-But H-Hokage-sama!"

The red-headed girl stuck her tongue out at Naruto and quickly turned once again at the old man, "So? Is that why you called both of us here right?"

At that the Hogake's eyes narrowed a little, not like the twins would notice. Even for all the atrocities he has seen across his life, this act still disgusted him. Imagine Hiruzen's surprise when an ANBU squad escorted the kids to his office at the middle of the night and he found that the orphanage actually kicked them out days ago!

What kind of human does that to children no more than 4 years old? He immediately sent the same ANBU squad to… escort the orphanage's manager right to the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force. He hoped that Ibiki and that Anko girl were having _fun._

"Actually I wanted to-"

He was interrupted when he heard someone enter from the Hokage's room window. He knew just one person who could hope to survive doing that…

"Hello sensei! How's everything going?"

Hiruzen eyebrow twitched. Oh, what a good timing! He was currently pissed off and he wanted to talk to this man since 3 YEARS AGO.

"Oh, but it isn't Jiraiya-kun. I was _waiting_ for you" He emphasized the word waiting dangerously and the Toad Sage noted it. Even though Hiruzen couldn't see him, he could feel his uneasiness.

"Oi Jii-san have you gone senile? Who are you talking to?" Mito's voice remind the Hokage that the Twins were still there. And senile? Where did she learn that word? Never mind that, he needed some time alone with his old student.

"Oh Naruto-kun, Mito-chan could you please wait for me outside for a few minutes? I will call you once I'm finished with some… _business_ I have to take care of." Though Mito was oblivious to the dangerous tone of voice the Hokage was using, Naruto felt it and a shiver ran down his spine. He quickly grabbed his sister and exited the room.

A man with long and spiky white hair opened the window and… entered the room. He wore some red robes and had a hitai-ate with the kanji for 'Oil', instead of the usual Konoha symbol.

"Those two were…" Jiraiya trailed off and Hiruzen finished for him.

"Minato and Kushina's legacy. That's right, Naruto and Mito Uzumaki." He talked with a sombre expression until he remembered who he was addressing, "Now Jiraiya-kun, please take a seat. You have an explanation to give me."

Jiraiya took a seat in front of the Hokage completely unaware of the deathly aura forming around his former sensei. "What about?"

"Did you… perhaps received a letter from me? A few years ago?" Hiruzen asked cautiously with his eyes fixed on the Sannin.

Jiraiya scratched his head with one hand and with the other took out a… closed envelope. "This one? Oh yeah, I haven't opened it yet since it didn't have the Hokage's seal on it. I guessed it wasn't as important as… other… iss…ues…"

Now the Toad Sage could feel the killing intent coming in waves from his sensei, it didn't let him breathe!

Hiruzen was smiling pleasantly in his Hokage robes. He took of his hat and stood up from his table, walking quietly towards his old student.

"Oh, it wasn't official information, but important nonetheless." Seeing as Jiraiya couldn't talk from the pressure of his KI, he decrease it… enough so he could talk. "Could you open it?"

Don't trusting his voice, the Sannin desperately opened the letter and read through it without another word. Slowly his eyes widened and he let the letter fell to the floor. "Sensei I… you know I need to manage the spy network for the village… I can't take care of children, even if they are Minato's!"

Hiruzen smile didn't falter, neither his KI. "Oh, but that was then and this is now. You know that the orphanage kicked them out? And I was recently informed that they weren't all that liked in there? The adults didn't break my law, but they shunned them and made their children do the same. But do you think they came to me and complain about their life? Well they didn't. They thought I was busy enough with all the 'village stuff'. They are 4 years old Jiraiya, 4 years old!"

Jiraiya shrunk in his seat and looked down at his feet, "Still sensei I can't…"

"Oh oh!" Hiruzen interrupted his former pupil, "You can and you will Jiraiya. From now on I strip you of your Sannin rights about traveling. You are going to stay here in Konoha until I say otherwise."

Jiraiya quickly stood up and narrowed his eyes, "You can't do that Sarutobi-sensei! I-"

But he was interrupted once again when Hiruzen slammed his hand on the table furiously, "I can and I did, Jiraiya. I'm sure I can find someone to handle the spy network for you while you're busy with other things. But I can't find anybody else to take care of them" The Hokage's voice was hard like steel and had a sense of finality not even Jiraiya could retort.

Said sage sighed and sat down once again, "I… understand sensei."

Hiruzen calmed down too and lifted the KI, "They need someone to be there for them Jiraiya-kun. The Hokage position take away almost all of my time, so I hope you fully understand this."

Jiraiya steeled his resolve and looked right at the Third Hokage, "I will, I will take care of them fine? Though I'm not the best 'parental figure' there is and you know it. I'm a super pervert."

The old man chuckled at this and sat down in his seat, grabbing his hat along the way. "Oh, and train them if you want. They already started bugging me about it recently."

The Toad Sage nodded. If they were both the children of Minato and Kushina, their potential was certain. Perhaps one of them was the Child of the Prophecy he was looking for? "Sensei, what about Tsunade-hime? Have you heard about her?"

The Hokage sighed and looked at Jiraiya once again, "You know how she is about the village. She refused to come even though I told her about Naruto-kun and Mito-chan."

Jiraiya sighed much like his sensei, "Why I'm not surprised?" At that moment Hiruzen remembered about the Twins that were still waiting for him. He made a signal with his hand and an ANBU appeared out of nowhere and opened the door, revealing a Mito atop of a yelling Naruto.

"What was that about 'Tomato Head' uh? Say that you're sorry!" The red-haired girl yelled at him, ignoring the now open doors.

"I'm sorry Mito-chan! I'm really sorry! Please get off of me now!" Naruto screamed and struggled agains his sister's grip, but for a reason she was way stronger than him.

"Why should I? I'm comfortable." Mito said offhandedly and the blond cried for help, now noticing that the Hokage was watching along a white-haired man.

"Hokage-sama! P-Please help me!"

* * *

**AN: ****Alright, here is the first chapter of the series. Like I said before, it is my first written story and I really want to improve, so a few words would really help. **

**Thanks you very much for reading.**


	3. Ch 2: Godfather? Itachi's absence

**uub: I thank you very much for taking your time to review my story. Mito's character is mainly based on Naruto's canon one, Naruto's taking his personality from Minato, I want Sasuki's character to base on Sasuke, but since in my story he is a she and has a brother it will change her decisions quite a bit. Yuu's one is a little more complicated... you'll see after a while. I want the characters to grow up through the story so their personality will change (nothing drastically) over the events that occur. And don't worry, I personally dislike bashing for ANY character. **

**A/N: This chapter is mainly build-up and character interaction, sorry for the 'boring atmosphere' **

**I promise action next chapter though, the first battle I ever write... I hope it comes out at least decent. **

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto shifted uncomfortably on his seat. "So… you're Jiraiya-sama, I get it?" At that he stole a quick-glance at his sister who was sitting at the other corner of the Hokage Room and she was glaring right at him. 'W-What? She's s-still mad! I didn't m-mean to call her Tomato Head! Scary!' He thought and started to get nervous and squirm under his sister glare.

Jiraiya quietly chuckled at the twins antics "I'm the Toad Sage, the most powerful Sannin there is, the one who makes women from all ages sigh and author of the best seller 'Icha Icha Paradise'! Jiraiya!" he finished with a compromising pose that made Hiruzen, Naruto and Mito to sweatdrop.

"Yeah, of course you are… ha ha…" Naruto laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, "Is this the reason you called us, Hoka-" he stopped mid-sentence as he felt his sister's piercing look "Jii-sama?" Mito nodded, satisfied at her work. Her brother could be so stiff sometimes.

Now the atmosphere of the room suddenly became serious, something that Naruto caught on, though his sister probably didn't. Hiruzen looked at both of them and the Uzumaki boy was wondering if they did anything wrong… well his sister had a little of a 'prankster mindset' but it wasn't that bad…

"To answer your question directly Naruto-kun, no. It wasn't because of him. At first I wanted to talk about your life in the orphanage-"

Hiruzen was interrupted by Mito's cheerful voice "Oh that Jii-san! You have nothing to worry about, beca-" The Hokage held his hand up and silenced the little girl who was smiling from ear to ear.

"There _was _something to worry about Mito-chan. You two should've told me about the mistreatment you suffered at the orphanage, not an ANBU squad." The Hokage's voice was firm and Naruto lowered his head in shame, but Mito's smile didn't falter.

"But Jii-san, we didn't want you to worry. It was nothing bad, they just-" Hiruzen silenced the girl once again and her eyebrow started to twitch.

"They just didn't give you proper vestment, didn't let you eat in the same room as everybody else, gave you leftovers, the kids bullied you and the staff didn't stop the fights even if you complaint about them, your rooms were vandalized, they kicked you out… do you want me to continue?" When the Hokage finished, Mito's eyes were shadowed by her beautiful red hair. It pained Sarutobi to do this, but it was necessarily. He needed that the twins were comfortable enough around him to complain when something was wrong.

Hiruzen's heart clenched painfully when Mito narrowed her eyes at him 'It has to be done, It has to be done, It has to be done' He repeated mentally and kept his unwavering gaze at his surrogate granddaughter. Jiraiya was looking indignantly at him, but he ignored it too.

"Then tell us Jii-san! Why do they do those things to us!? Why do they hate us!? We didn't do anything!" her eyes were full of unshed tears and her voice was desperate.. He caught a small movement from the corner of his eye and made Naruto stop from moving with just his look. The boy seemed to battle with himself, but at the end he remained at his position. It was obvious that the boy couldn't bear to watch his twin sister cry, but it was necessarily.

Hiruzen felt hundred of years catch up to him with the sight. He was sure that he looked even scarier in the outside, but he had to deal with the twins pain as soon as possible. He didn't want them to break down with bottled up pain.

The Hokage wanted to tell them the truth, but even if they sounded like adults they were still kids on the inside. He still had hope that they could have a normal childhood… or what was left of it.

"They are ignorant and stupid people" surprisingly, the answer came from Jiraiya's mouth. He looked like he just sucked on a lemon, barely hiding his anger at the villagers "Neither you nor your brother have done anything, don't worry about it"

"But they'll see one day" Hiruzen added. He still had faith on his people, that they would see Mito and Naruto aside from the fox. They'll acknowledge them. "I'm sure they'll understand that everything they did to you was wrong. Until then, you just have to keep trying"

"But nobody wants to be our friends! Nobody wants to be near us!" Mito yelled frantically and her tears left a wet trail on her cheeks. "They avoid us like we're some kind of monsters…"

Hiruzen's eyes softened considerably and looked fragile, even though he was the most powerful shinobi in the village. But even then, he was still just a human.

"Do you trust me, Mito-chan?" The girl seemed surprised at the Hokage's pleading voice and felt her anger slowly draining away. No, she couldn't stay angry at her family, even if they weren't related by blood.

"I… I do Jii-san" Hiruzen smiled at the answer and in less than a second he was standing in front of the girl. The old man kneeled so he was at her eyes level and hugged the girl gently,

"You'll both make friends Mito-chan, Naruto-kun. Precious people that you'll treasure inside your hearts. Just keep trying and give them a chance. Also, always remember this: You are not alone and you will never be alone, do you understand?"

Mito's eyes widened and she hugged the Hokage back with all her strength. A few sobs escaped her lips, but she didn't care anymore… who the old man thought he as, making her feel like this!

Hiruzen turned to Naruto with an open arm, "There's still space for one more person, you know?" The boy awoke from his stupor at the old man words, shook his head and dashed at his little family. Though it was little right now, he will make sure that it'll increase in size over time… to never see her sister cry like this again.

The Hokage knew that the Uzumaki boy although he didn't talk, he felt like his sister. The boy was far more intelligent than any 4 years old he knew of, with his sister right behind him. Though the village's ill treatment was the main reason for their maturity, they were still kids.

After a few minutes the twins had already calmed down and were both seating next to each other, with Mito leaning into his twin brother's shoulder. Their personalities did collide and they had their little fights, but at the same time both were always together. They were never alone because they always had the other. One of the benefits of having siblings, Hiruzen concluded.

"Ahem…" Hiruzen cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room, "Now that's over with, I'd like to present to you one more time my old student, Jiraiya of the Sannin."

The twins traded looks with each other and then turned to the old Hokage once again, waiting for an explanation.

'Okay then… time for the bombshell' The Third Hokage didn't know for certain how they would react to the news, but he had vague expectations. "He's going to take care of you from now on…" He let Jiraiya continue,

"For 2 years. Yeah, that's right, you've got Jiraiya the Legendary Sannin to yourself exclusively for 2 whole years!" Jiraiya said in an overacted tone, ending in a pose and waited for the cheers…

But a deafening silence was all that reigned in the room leaving the white-haired man waiting… and waiting… and waiting in the same pose… 'This is so awkward' the man thought and regretted his decision.

The twins were looking at Hiruzen, then at Jiraiya and then back at Hiruzen with complete disbelief in their eyes and dumbfound expressions. It continued like this for a few seconds until...

"WHAT!?"

* * *

"You did WHAT!?" The usual calm and collected Uchiha Mikoto shouted incredulously at her younger children.

Sasuki smiled sheepishly while Yuu gave her a 'I told you so' look, "Well you see kaa-san, he" at this she nudged at her brother in the stomach and made him gasp for air "came more injured than usual from training. I got a… little worried and disinfected his injuries like you said…"

The woman regained her bearings once again and shook her head at her daughter with a smile "You should've waited for me Sasuki…"

Sasuki's eyebrow twitched again at the 'I told you so' look from her brother and gave him a glare that told him clearly 'stop doing that or I'll punch you'. Oh, the perks of communicating with eyes. "I'm sorry kaa-san"

'They are still children Mikoto, they make mistakes all the time!' Mikoto put a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder, "Don't worry about it Sasuki. Now then Yuu, please come with me" she could see at plain view that Sasuki didn't do a very good job bandaging her brother. Now that she thought about it, perhaps she could teach her right now, "Sasuki you too"

Both kids looked at each other wondering if they were in trouble. Even so, they followed their mother. They certainly didn't expect their mother to lead them into the bathroom and grab once again the bandages and the disinfectant. Yuu visibly flinched at this. He realized what they were going to do and he didn't like it at all.

"Okay Yuu, please sit right here" the boy looked at his mother fearfully and she giggled at this, "Oh honey, don't tell me your scared of your lil' mother? Don't worry, I will be extremely careful" Yuu nodded at this and reluctantly sat in front of his mother. What he didn't catch was that his mother never said that it wasn't going to hurt. "Take your clothes off please"

Now that Yuu was shirtless she could see her daughter job and it was funny. Her baby looked like a cute little mummy… she should let her children do more things alone before teaching them.

"Now I'm going to take these old bandages off okay? Scream if it hurts" Mikoto carefully started undoing her son's bandages until she heard a scream,

"Oww! Ow! It hurts!" The boy was squishing his eyes shut. That unbearable pain again! He knew that this was a bad idea! But then the pain slowly started fading and he felt her mother's warm hands cupping his cheeks lovingly. Her thumb wiped his tears. Yuu slowly opened his left eye and saw Mikoto's motherly smile. Soon the pain completely fade away.

"There there Yuu. See? It isn't that bad right?" she kept caressing her son's cheeks while she undid the bandages. "Aaand we're done… now let's get you patched up again. Sasuki watch me carefully alright?" Mikoto saw Sasuki nod in the corner of her eye and she started while she made Yuu look at her in the eyes.

The Uchiha girl watched with fascination as her mother skillfully patched her brother, completely different to her method. She couldn't close her mouth! "Wow kaa-san, you're amazing! He isn't crying like a baby anymore!" At that Mikoto giggled and nodded her head, while Yuu ignored the obvious insult,

"Well, first aid is a useful skill for ninja to have and I learnt to do it in the heat of battle… I'm doing it in a slow pace in order for you to see" Mikoto commented rather proudly at her medic skills and Sasuki's jaw slacked even more. "And the secret to numbing the pain without chakra or any medication is showing the person your nursing that you care for them. Basically you show them your love. Of course it only works with people you deeply care for" Yuu blushed and averted his gaze whereas Sasuki nodded thoughtfully. What an amazing power love was.

After a few minutes the Uchiha boy was fully patched now, and he admitted mentally that it felt better than before. Not that he would say it or Sasuki will probably punch him. Her fists hurt.

"How do you feel?" Yuu almost face-planted to the floor when Mikoto asked that question. 'You're not helping at all!' Yuu shouted internally and sighed on the outside. Wait a second…

Mikoto's pleasant smile was more than obvious, but Yuu saw something hidden in it… mischief! 'She did that on purpose!' the boy screeched inside his mind and searched for a way out but Sasuki's look showed genuine curiosity. She was also interested in hearing his answer.

Yuu sighed once again. He did that more frequently when the boy was with his mother and sister, he discovered. "I feel pretty comfortable actually. I could train with these bandages on…" The boy watched his sister reaction with the side of his eyesight and was surprised when she widened her eyes comically.

"That's right!" Sasuki practically yelled, "Tomorrow we have training with Itachi-nii!" She completely forgot about it! Oh thank Kami that Yuu mentioned training or she would have forgotten to invite him. "Can you come with me Yuu? We could train together again!"

'Safe!' Yuu shouted in his mind and smiled. 'Thank you Itachi-niisama!' He shook his head to clear his thoughts and saw the happiness in Sasuki's eyes. Even if he wanted, he could never say no to those beautiful onyx eyes. "Okay Sasuki, did he tell you where we'll meet?"

The girl stopped in mid-celebration and a sheepish smile crossed her face "Well…"

"My my, you can talk about tomorrow plans after dinner…" Mikoto interrupted their little conversation with a even more sweet smile, "You both know the drill right?" Yuu and Sasuki gulped and nodded at the same time in perfect synch. "Then go and set the table please" At that they dashed out of the bathroom at shocking speeds.

Mikoto laughed quietly at her children's antics and started walking towards the kitchen, though she stopped mid-step when a thought plagued her mind 'Yuu's hair is a little long. He should get a haircut soon… I'll inform him later. I have more than enough with Itachi and his pony-tail. Rebels'

* * *

The Third Hokage sighed tiredly and passed a hand through his grey hair. He wondered how the meeting went downhill so quick.

Everything was going alright. The bottled up pain was mainly taken care of, he made sure that the Twins still trusted him and will tell him if something wasn't right... then he dropped the bombshell about their new guardian Jiraiya. At first Mito reacted a bit harsh, but after a few minutes of talking she calmed down immensely. It was like she was happy about the news, the same thing with Naruto.

But then... Jiraiya had to open his big mouth and tell them that he was their supposed god-father. Hiruzen actually face-palmed at his former student. He was always a thick-headed idiot but to this extent? Still, the old Sarutobi had to admit that the Twin's surprised even him.

They accepted Jiraiya as their guardian alright, but learning that he was their official god-father and he wasn't there for all this years made something snap inside of them. Both of them actually, not only Mito. He had witnessed Naruto's anger beforehand, but today at his office he was downright furious.

And it wasn't because of his own loneliness, but because his sister's. Such a golden-hearted boy, he couldn't believe that the village was blind to it.

Anyway, Mito dashed out of the room and slammed the door shut, leaving behind a pissed off Naruto and a dumbfounded Jiraiya.

Thanks Kami that the boy was tolerant and actually heard Jiraiya's apologies and his reasons as to why he wasn't inside the village until now.

Now Naruto was still angry, but he at least forgave the man. Hiruzen apologized as well but the boy shrugged him off, saying that it was okay, but they had to apologize to Mito.

Suddenly remembering about absence of a certain girl, the Uzumaki boy widened his eyes and ran to look for her. It was already late and he knew that it was dangerous to be alone at dark.

The Third Hokage immediately told Jiraiya to trail them and to apologize to the Uzumaki twin girl, to beg if it was necessary.

Now the old man sat on his desk, dreading for the time off he asked for to finally end. It was a rare occasion to see Hiruzen without any paperwork on his table.

He shook his head to clear his mind. What an endless night this was going to be.

* * *

"Mito-chan!" Naruto voiced loud enough his sister's name again. The sun already set and Konoha alleys were getting pitch black. He was beginning to worry about Mito's wellbeing. He knew that they weren't liked around here, so what if a villager found her while she was alone and... Oh Kami he needed to find her quickly "Mito!" he yelled with more panic in his voice and increased the pace of his search.

Running through streets, looking into alleys, searching inside dumpsters... the boy continued searching without stopping to take breathes, though the cold of the night was beginning to creep him out. His sister weak, all alone, in the cold dark night... that fueled his will and started thinking now, since looking aimlessly wasn't helping at all. Where did Mito liked to be when she was mad?...

Now he didn't know because all he recalled were times in the orphanage. She sometimes sat on the rooftoop to 'cool off', but Naruto passed by it a few minutes ago and she certainly wasn't there. 'Naruto think! Where! Where!' he screamed in his mind and paused when a vague memory came to him. "The Hokage Monument..." the boy mumbled and turned to the mountain with the 4 big and funny heads, as Mito named it.

In reality, they were carvings, huge carvings, of all the Hokage's faces. There was the First Hokage, then the Second, next to it the current Hokage's face and finally the Fourth Hokage.

She commented one time that she wanted her face on it, though they didn't know what it really was then. Now could she possibly be up there?...

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and took off. It was the only place he didn't look for, so it was the safest assumption.

And wait, if his Jii-sama's face was the Third, it meant that he was the Third Hokage... then where was the Fourth?

The boy put that thought in the back of his head, he will ask the Hokage-sama another day. For now he concentrated in finding Mito.

* * *

Now that Naruto thought about it, he was totally exhausted. He wasn't aware of it, but he just practically ran across Konoha 2 times and now he climbed the Hokage Monument. But he kept going. It didn't make sense, but when he thought about the dangers his sister could face alone out there, he forced his body to surpass his limits.

And finally he found her. She was standing on the Fourth's hair with her own shining under the moonlight. Naruto captured this image on his mind while he managed to catch his breath and proceed to finally confront the Uzumaki girl.

"Mito-chan..." At his voice the red-haired turned slowly, as expecting his presence, and then back at the village under them. At least she was safe.

"Nii-chan" Mito mumbled softly and Naruto's eyes widened at that. She had only called him that a few times, normally when she was making fun of him... but now it sounded different.

Naruto closed the distance between them and sat right next to her. The sight was incredibly beautiful, the lights of the villages merging with the starry night sky. He opened his mouth in shock but quietly closed it again. It was simply breathtaking. "This is so..." the boy trailed off, searching for an adequate work to use.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" A new voice came from their backs, eliciting different reactions from the twins. Mito visibly narrowed her eyes at the new arrival, but Naruto widened his own in surprise since he couldn't detect any presence. Well it actually made sense, Jiraiya-sama WAS _one _of the legendary Sannin. So there were more than one... another question for the Hokage-sama.

The boy turned to his sister's reaction, or rather lack thereof. She was ignoring the man's presence at all cost.

Jiraiya noticed this and dropped his dumb smile. The man joined them and sat right behind Naruto, towering the twins from his height. Now Naruto saw that the Sannin was a very tall man, easily taller than the Third Hokage. This serious look didn't fit with his previous demeanor, Naruto concluded. Though he was a shinobi, right? The ninjas were rather complicated... and Naruto decided that he liked it.

"For all that's worth..." The man started and brought Naruto back from his thoughts, "and I know it isn't much, but... I'm really sorry. You have to understand that as a shinobi of the Leaf missions are usually first and foremost, it doesn't mean I don't care about you. Believe me that I do, but I just didn't know that you both had it so... bad" Jiraiya suddenly realized what was happening. He was apologizing to a pair of 4 years old kids! Wow, did they really understand? He used some pretty strong words. Actually, what did he expect from Minato's children?

Mito kept looking at the village, took a breath and turned to the white-haired man "I... don't forgive you..." Naruto looked at his sister worriedly at that, but Jiraiya's gaze didn't waver. They were looking right at each other with Naruto right in the middle. "But... I'll try." Jiraiya widened his eyes and then smiled. He knew that she was at least giving him a chance, and if she was someone like Kushina then... it was a huge advance.

"C'mon, I'll take you home" Jiraiya turned to leave but stopped when nobody was following him. "Hello?..."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a habit he was beginning to get "Well, we kind of... don't have a home right now..."

Mito's personality did a 180. Jiraiya wasn't sensing ill intent anymore and now she was actually looking at him, not glaring nor ignoring, though her eyes were narrowed, "A few days ago it was the orphanage, then we... lived in the streets for 2 days and a guy with a mask found us. Then Jii-san let us stay at the ANBU HQ something? Full of ninja with masks. Creepy."

Jiraiya shook his head and signaled them to stand up, "C'mon, I have an old house on the outskirts of the village, just a few minutes from here. It's going to be our home from now on."

"Our home..." The twins tried the word a few times while walking with the man. "Wait... aren't we going to Hoka... Jii-sama's office?" Naruto corrected himself just in time to avoid abuse from his sister.

"Tomorrow. It is already too late. Aren't you tired?" Jiraiya answered simply and chuckled when both yawned, "There you go. Now c'mon, I want to get there tonight!" The man was back to his usual self and Naruto wondered once again the mystery that ninja were. Interesting.

* * *

"Do you think... Itachi-nii is okay?" Yuu heard the obvious worried voice of his sister right beside him and he sighed. This was like the 5th time she asked the same question.

"Yes Sasuki, we're talking about Nii-sama here. He's maybe still in the meeting or training." The boy reassured his sister and felt her nod. When Itachi was absent from today's dinner she was worried sick for him. It took Mikoto's and his help to stop her from going out to search for him. Deep inside him he was indeed worried, but he knew that his brother was an amazing shinobi ready for anything.

"He promised that he was going to train with us tomorrow..." Sasuki mumbled and Yuu just grunted in response. He was damn tired from all the training and the sleep was taking over him.

Af†er a few blissful minutes of silence it broke once again thanks to the Uchiha girl, "Are you awake Yuu?" she asked softly and when she didn't hear anything, Sasuki nudged the bundle next to her earning a gasp and a few coughs.

"I'm awake, I'm awake" Yuu's tone was definitely sleepy, accompanied with a yawn while he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

Sasuki turned around so she was facing her brother in their bed, "What do you think about the Sharingan?"

Now Yuu was awake and he looked at his sister weirdly, "The Sharingan?"

She nodded and Yuu actually thought about it. It was the bloodline limit of their clan and everyone in here treated it proudly. But there was a pretty bad hierarchy going on and Yuu knew about it. The Uchiha who didn't awake the Sharingan became servants, merchants, etc. and were deemed unworthy of most things, while ninja were seen as royalty.

Now it made sense. His sister was desperate since he awoke his and she still didn't. Maybe she was worried? Yeah that was probably it. So an answer that made it seem like the Sharingan wasn't that much of a thing...

"It is just a tool for us to use, Sasuki. We shouldn't depend on it so much I think..."

The Uchiha girl accepted the answer and turned once again around, "I see. Thanks Yuu... good night."

"G'night Sasuki. Sleep well."

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**A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter, please leave your review and remember to be honest. If you find something I need to improve, an error or anything you don't really like please tell me.**


	4. Ch 3: The destined meeting?

**ada2012: Thank you for the review. Well, they will be friends... though I won't spoil anything more. And don't worry, I won't stop writing because of that.**

**A/N: I'm very sorry, but still no action in this chapter. I'm currently working very hard on the fighting scene, so it'll be probably next chapter or the next one. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one.**

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything related to it.

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Yuu felt the sunbeam right on his eyes and rolled through the bed trying to avoid the morning light, 'Uh… annoying sun. It's always on my side' he thought now awake and sat on top of the bed.

The boy looked at his side and saw a slowly raising sheet. He would be scared out of his live if he wasn't this sleepy. He carefully removed the sheet to reveal a cute, yawning Sasuki with one of her eyes closed and the other one looking around aimlessly.

"Morning, sorry if I woke you up" Yuu excused him first, not wanting to initiate a fight so early.

Sasuki nodded at his apologies, he was learning "Good morning Yuu. Don't worry about it, I was already awake" Yuu looked curiously at her and then realization dawned,

"The sun?" He asked and received a grunt for answer. The boy smiled at that, it seemed like the sun didn't annoy just him. "C'mon, let's get ready for the morning. I think I heard okaa-sama working on the breakfast already"

At Sasuki's nod, both of them got up and began their way to the bathroom. Making Mikoto wait wasn't a nice option and they knew it.

* * *

Naruto desperately put a pillow on the top of his head to block the sound coming from another room. The boy wasn't sure where the Sannin was sleeping, but his snores were intruding the twin's room and their sleep. They fell asleep and after a few minutes were awakened thanks to his snoring. It repeated again and again through the night.

Mito was finally sleeping thanks to heaven or who knows what she'd do to Jiraiya. Heck, he wasn't sure he could endure another night like this.

And now it was already morning.

Naruto groaned and lifted himself up with some difficulty, not wanting to be the one to wake up his sister. She looked peacefully while sleep, her beautiful red hair all spread out and the slowly raising of her chest.

The boy smiled at the sight and captured another moment with his mind. He stood up and went to the bathroom to wash himself. Maybe by the time he's done, Mito would already be awake.

* * *

Itachi was panting heavily at the entrance of his house. He spent all night training and he was totally drained, but he was satisfied with the results. He had finally mastered the Katon: Karyū Endan, a B-rank fire technique.

His gear was ragged, destroyed, burnt... his mother wasn't going to be happy about it, and on top of that he skipped last night dinner without announcing it, thus his reluctance in entering the house. He wasn't scared of his father, no... just telling him that he was training saved him from everything... but his mother was a little mad last time it happened and Itachi kind of promised he wasn't going to do it again.

And here it was, a prodigious and powerful shinobi scared of entering his house.

With a large intake of breath he slowly turned the door knob and then opened the door, just enough to let him see inside. 'Good, nobody's here. Perhaps they're sleeping' Itachi's usually stoic face was replaced with a small smirk, 'Perfect, lucky Itachi...'

The prodigy was soundlessly making his way to his room, up the stairs, turn left and... saf-!

"Nii-sama?" Itachi turned around at breakneck speed with widened eyes, lose his equilibrium, stumbled backwards and fell on his rear, making enough sound to ensure he was busted. A silence was all that remained after his fall, until a hysterical laughter broke it completely, crushing all Itachi's hopes of getting away.

Yuu was trying to regain his composure to no avail. Seeing Uchiha Itachi falling on his rear was damn hilarious, "You... what... Itachi...?" The boy managed to get out before breaking into another fit of laughs.

After that Sasuki's voice was heard from a distance, with Mikoto's right behind her "Yuu? What's wrong?" The boy could only point at his brother, who was still on the floor. Itachi was reassuring himself mentally that his fall was because the exhaustion of the training to save his pride. Mikoto gasped when she saw Itachi's state and rushed to check him.

Sasuki too saw it and instead of running towards him to help, she slowly made her way to where Yuu was still trying to control his laugh. Yuu noticed the mean aura behind him and in a cautious manner, he turned around to face an angry Sasuki looking at him, her arm high on the air prepared for a strike.

"Yuu baka!" She struck the boy right on the head with enough force to make him face-vault on the floor. "Don't you see Itachi's injured? How could you laugh at him? Meanie! Ugly!"

Yuu felt bad now and stood up ready to apologize to his brother, but saw an even scarier Mikoto looking right at Itachi with a sweet smile. "Itachi, Itachi... look how injured you are... let mommy take care of you, okay?" At that Mikoto looked at the twins and spoke in a voice that left no argument, "You two, no fights in the house. Yuu apologize to your brother, Sasuki apologize to Yuu. Now"

"I'm sorry Itachi-niisama, I didn't mean to laugh at your... fall" Yuu said quickly and Itachi nodded his head.

"I'm sorry Yuu, I didn't mean to hit you nor call you names" Sasuki told Yuu at the same pace he did and the boy nodded like Itachi.

Mikoto smiled through all this. It wasn't the first time it happened and she was glad that her children were so obedient. "Good, good... now Yuu and Sasuki, you know the drill. I will be there in a few... minutes" with that the twins disappeared from view and now Itachi and her were the only ones on the hall. "Wait for me in the bathroom Itachi... I need to get the bandages and the disinfectant" she said with a too sweetly smile and Itachi shivered but obeyed without protests.

* * *

Jiraiya watched incredulously as Mito finished her sixth bowl of ramen! He woke up to see both kids looking at him with hungry eyes and because he didn't have any food at the house, the man decided to buy them some breakfast at whatever place they chose. Immediately Mito seemed eager and yelled 'Ramen' excitedly, while Naruto looked at him with sympathy. Now he got it.

The girl was a sucker for ramen much like Kushina and she inherited her mother's apetite too!

This place was called 'Ichiraku's Ramen' and the owner was practically glowing with glee at his new 'best customer', opposite to Jiraiya who was crying internally. At least Naruto didn't eat like that too.

"Mito-chan... table manners..." Naruto whispered to his sister and she stopped eating and looking at him with her mouth full of noodles.

"Oh right, sorry about that" She didn't sound sorry at all and Naruto sighed, ate some more noodles from his pork ramen and waited for Mito to finish.

After the eighth bowl she was finally full and thanked Jiraiya for the food... at least she did that.

Jiraiya was impressed at how they ignored the mean looks from the villagers and was furious at the same time. He was sure that people recognized him, but that didn't stop them from glaring. He returned some of them with a little of killing intent and enjoyed when they pissed themselves.

"So? When do we start our super-training?" Mito asked eagerly while they wandered through the village. The glares from the villagers she was receiving didn't affect her in the slightest, not when she just had the meal of the gods.

The man shook his head from his previous thoughts and wondered about what type of training he could give two 4 years old. He could teach them how to write and read... instruct them a few daily physical exercises... access to their chakra and at the same time check how the seal was acting... but there was something he wanted to do before anything. "Oh I see someone's eager to learn from the great Jiraiya! Don't worry little Mito-chan, we'll start today!"

At that both of them stopped walking and looked at him with excitement. Today? That was sooner that they expected! Naruto was anxious to learn more about the ninjas and the interesting things they could do whilst Mito wanted to be more awesome and finally make everyone respect her.

Jiraiya chuckled at them and woke them up from their day dream, "Follow me please, we're only a few streets away from our 'training ground'

* * *

"So Itachi-nii where are we going? Are you going to teach us cool stuff? Hey wait up you're walking too fast!" Sasuki kept talking and talking, commenting about the village, her Itachi-nii amazing skills, asking about their training, pestering Yuu about how quiet and boring he was...

Itachi gave a rare small smile at his sister antics and looked at his other sibling, who was walking quietly at his other side. They were similar in personality when they went out of the house, using a mask to shield themselves from other people. That's what their father taught them, to never reveal any emotion. But he didn't want his brother to be like that.

The Uchiha prodigy knew he was being selfish, since he didn't want his brother to behave like a ninja so soon and didn't consider his own feelings, but Itachi really wanted them to have a real childhood with smiles, fun and friends, something he didn't have. Or had.

With that in mind, the older brother stopped walking, turned to Yuu and poked his forehead with two fingers.

The boy tumbled backwards a few steps and reacted to that with angriness "Ow! What was that for?" Yuu rubbed his forehead. It didn't hurt that much but it caught him by surprise.

Itachi smirked. Yeah, that's what he wanted, a reaction. "I heard kaa-sama patched you up yesterday. Did it hurt?"

Yuu shook his head at the memories and kept walking, thinking for the correct come-back "Oh? You mean if I yelled 'It hurts! Stop mother!' over and over again like you?"

The prodigy shivered at the recent memories while Sasuki decided to enter the conversation, "Yuu that's exactly what you did"

At that the boy searched for a excuse in his mind, "T-That's because I'm 4 years old!" he yelled and Sasuki sighed,

"When are you going to stop using your age as an excuse? It's getting old"

"H-Hey! Who are you calling old you old woman?"

Sasuki stopped on her tracks and Yuu quickly covered his mouth,

"S-Sorry Sasuki y-you know I wasn't really paying attention at what I..." the boy trailed off and looked for help at a chuckling Itachi, who only mouthed the word 'run'. And that's what he did.

"Stop running and come here you coward! I'm going to get you!" Sasuki shouted at his brother and gave chase, leaving an amused Itachi behind. Yeah, that's the right behavior.

Now back again on track to their destination with a fuming Sasuki and Yuu with a lump on his head, Itachi decided it was time to go to their... 'training ground', looking at the sky to determine what time it was, since they needed to be back at 6 o'clock.

**Flashback**

_"Oh? So where do you want to take them?" Mikoto asked his elder son while she kept disinfecting his wounds, earning a hiss of pain from Itachi._

_"I plan on... Ow!... taking them to the p-Oh S**t! F**k!" Itachi yelled and the raven-haired woman hit him on the top of his head._

_"No cursing inside the house, little Itachi. Well, I give you permission and remember to take care of them okay?" she said sweetly and Itachi nodded slowly at that. He won't let anyone hurt them ever. Not a kid, not a villager, not his father and not... the Hokage. _

_'Wow' he thought 'not even the Hokage?' Itachi didn't think that his protectiveness towards the twins was so high. _

_"And I want you three to be home at 6 o'clock. Do you understand?" she poured more disinfectant on another wound to put emphasis on this._

_It took everything he had to not curse aloud at that and merely nod his head in 'yes' "H-Hai... kaa-sama, I understand..." _

_"Good" She smiled sweetly at his answer and kept nursing her son_

**Flashback end**

'Six o'clock' Itachi thought 'We have plenty of time'

After a few minutes of walking through Konoha, Itachi stopped and with him his siblings did too. "We are here"

Yuu and Sasuki widened their eyes in disbelief, "This is..."

* * *

"THE PARK!?" Mito's tone of voice made Naruto and Jiraiya cringe and cover their ears.

Naruto made a hushing sound, "Mito-chan mind your tone of voice, we are right next to you..."

Said girl glared at Naruto, making him flinch and take a step backwards. She then turned to Jiraiya with the same glare but he seemed unaffected,

"Yeah that's right, the park. This is the first part of your training-"

"What kind of training is this!?" Mito interrupted Jiraiya with a loud voice, but quieter than the previous one. At least it didn't make them protect their ears.

The Sannin chuckled, turned and started walking away, "_My_ training. Now go ahead and have fun, I'll be back in a couple of hours"

"What!?" Mito once again shouted, "Where are you going!?" That made Jiraiya stop and turn around once again with a strange smile and a giggle that sounded wrong in every sense,

"I have some... research to do for my new book... you won't understand since you are little babies and still don't appreciate art" the man kept walking away until he stopped once again and looked at both of them with a more serious look, "If you don't comply to my orders I won't train you, so don't try to run away" with that Jiraiya walked away, leaving an angry Mito with Naruto.

"He just... left" Mito whispered to herself and started kicking the floor angrily, "That old geezer just left us here! I'm getting away from here!" she walked to the direction they arrived but Naruto grabbed her by the collar of her green shirt,

"Didn't you hear him? He isn't going to train us if we disobey" Naruto said seriously with a stoic face, leaving Mito speechless for a few seconds until she found her voice again,

"So what is your plan? Just do what he asks of you?" the Uzumaki boy nodded and let go of his sister, who stayed with him this time. "I'm going to trust you this time Naruto..." said boy smiled at that and was going to say something but his sister cut him off, "but if you grab me like that again..." she left the threat floating and Naruto's smile wavered.

"S-Sorry Mito-chan, it won't happen again!" the girl apparently accepted his apologies and now they were looking at their current situation.

"We're in a park..."

"Alone..."

"Full with kids around our age" Naruto corrected.

"Full with kids around our age who hates our guts" Mito said with a frown.

Naruto sighed, but started again "We have a few hours until Jiraiya-sama picks us up"

"If he even does"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched at Mito's negativity but decided against commenting about it, "So what do we do?"

"I don't know... what are you supposed to do in this place?"

"Play?" Naruto enquired.

"With what?"

The boy looked around the place, still at the entrance where nobody seemed to see them, until his gaze stopped at a... swing? "Hey, do you want to try the swings? I could push you"

Mito considered it for a few seconds and decided that if she was going to obey the old geezer, maybe she could at least have a little fun, "Alright! Let's go!"

* * *

"Hey dude! Wanna' play with us?" A boy with messy brown hair asked Yuu, who was sitting right next to his sister in a bench, and indicated with his thumb at a group of other kids behind him. "My name is Kiba"

"Oh... no sorry... I think I'll pass" Yuu answered with an awkward smile. Their brother 'training ground' was in reality a park, full of children, and when they turned around Itachi was gone, in his place a note saying that he will pick them up at 5 o'clock and to have fun. Now after 15 minutes his sister was still brooding over it.

The boy known as Kiba looked to the side, and then back at him "Hey I'll be honest with you" he grabbed Yuu by the shoulders and showed him a girl with blond hair at the distance who was looking at them, "That's Akira, the cutest girl around here and" he pointed at him, "she thinks you're cute while I" the boy pointed at himself "think your sister is way cuter than Akira. So what do you think? A trade?"

Yuu was looking at Kiba incredulously, his brows furrowed "No! What is wrong with you?"

The brown-haired boy snarled at him, but calmed down when he took a breath, "Tch, the offer is still up, idiot" with that he took away, and Yuu reacted just in time to grab Sasuki, who heard the entire conversation.

"Sasuki, I know you are mad, I am too... but you need to calm down, starting a fight with him is unnecessarily" Yuu whispered and Sasuki's breaths became more and more relaxed, "And you would completely wip the floor with his face" at that Sasuki giggled and sat down once again next to his brother.

"Sorry about this Yuu..." The girl said suddenly and Yuu waved her off,

"Don't worry about it Sasuki, he was an idiot and I was tempted to punch him too"

Sasuki shook her head in negative at that, "Not about that, it's just that Itachi-nii said we were going to train for today, I didn't mean to take your time in this when you could be training for real with father..."

Yuu smiled at his sister consideration and patted her in the head in a comforting manner, "Oh that... it's nothing Sasuki. Come on, let's take a walk around here" he offered his hand out which Sasuki grabbed and pulled herself to her feet.

* * *

An hour had passed already but it seemed like an eternity for the Uchiha twins. They walked through the park a few times, but there was nothing to see rather than kids with their parens playing and yelling, birds chirping, the sound of the leaves on the wind...

"I'm so bored!" Sasuki finally snapped and sat up from where they were lying, right under a tree.

Yuu just opened his left eye, as his hair completely covered his right one, and tiredly looked at Sasuki, who had a few leaves and dirt on her hair, "What are you talking about? It is so relaxing, peaceful..."

"And boring..." she finished for him and lied down once again beside Yuu. "What's your new training?" she asked with some difficult, since she was still a little mad at that situation.

Yuu heard the annoyance coming from her voice and sighed, "I don't know... father told me it's going to begin next week."

Sasuki deflated at that, judging by how her shoulders dropped, "So we aren't going to see eachother that much..." then she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and turned to Yuu, who had a small smile. Even if their father was busy with clan affairs, even if their mother was late because of the Konoha Military Police Force, even if their brother was out in a mission, they still had their brother/sister.

"Don't worry Sasuki, I'll do my best to finish quickly and be back home before you notice it, I promise" While it was a promise to his sister, at the same time it was a promise and a goal to himself.

Sasuki looked away with a scowl on her face, "B-Baka! don't say things like that so suddenly..." Yuu smile widened at that. Yep, same old Sasuki. Wait she was only 4 years old... whatever.

Thinking about 4 years old, they were far different from every single one they met, the main example being Kiba. Perhaps it was a thing from clans, but he didn't really knew any kid inside the Uchiha. Well, he could start doing that before judging other people...

"So, we're different from the other kids?" Ah, so they were thinking about the same thing once again. He heard that twins could guess what the other was thinking, but it sounded unbelievable. Now he could think about it again.

With a smile he answered, "We are. Do you hate it?"

Sasuki shook her head slowly in a negative fashion, "No, I better be weird than being like that Kiba guy"

Yuu had to agree with that. Now the conversation only lacked a conclusion, so with a synch sigh they both said,

"Kids our age are annoying"

They both widened their eyes and looked at the other in shock. Not because they said it in perfect synch, but because they heard other voices.

Yuu stood up and peaked behind the tree where navy met blue and next to them royal blue encountered crimson red hair.

They all inspected the other for a few minutes, a sun-kissed blond boy with spiky hair and sky blue eyes, a girl with crimson hair that stopped at her mid-back and violet eyes, a navy-haired boy with his hair covering his right eye and a girl with royal blue hair in two ponytails that reached her shoulders, the last two with onyx-colored eyes. They were all around the same height.

Yuu was the first one to come back to his senses, "Who are you?" he asked smoothly despite his shock just now.

Naruto shook his head and scratched his head sheepishly "Sorry, but it's polite to introduce yourself first"

The Uchiha boy was amazed that a boy his age could know that, but perhaps he was just small. "Right, my apologies. My name is Uchiha Yuu and she is my sister Uchiha Sasuki, we're twin siblings."

The blond boy nodded with an easy-going smile and signaled his sister to stand next to him, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, this lovely girl is my sister Uzumaki Mito and we're twins aswell. It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuu-san, Sasuki-san"

"The pleasure is ours, Naruto-san" Yuu replied with his own smile, matching the blond's one.

"How old are you?" Mito asked with curiosity and rather straight-forward all written on her face,

"4 years old" Sasuki answered simply and with a disinterested voice. She usually liked to talk like that with other people and Yuu didn't know why. It was annoying, but perhaps that was the reason?

Naruto chuckled at that and gave out his hand to shake, "Oh my, what a coincidence. We're 4 years old too"

Yuu grabbed his hand and shook it, trying to mask his disbelief, though to no avail since Naruto saw right through his transparent mask. He was surprised too, but he had experience masking his emotions.

"Judging by what we... and you just said, I guess you had an encounter with this Kiba guy too?" The blond deduced correctly and once again, Yuu was left speechless and trying to regain his composure.

"That's right, it's our first time in this park and we don't have much experience with kids our age. We were annoyed at his attitude" Yuu managed to answer, not knowing how, but talking to them seemed easy.

Naruto and Mito traded looks and the boy turned at them once again, "It is our first time too. Our guardian tricked us and left us here while he did something he called a 'research' Could you please define that word for me?"

Yuu chuckled at the similarities of their stories, "Well our elder brother tricked us too and left us here. Oh, and you could say research is something like investigate or study about a specific thing in order to reach a conclusion and possibly learning more about it." Sasuki was listening to the conversation, though she admitted that she didn't understand half about they said, when she felt someone touching her shoulder. She turned around to see the red-haired girl giving her a big smile.

"Is your brother usually like this?" Mito asked in a hushed tone while they moved out of their hearing range.

Sasuki crossed her arms and leaned into a tree, "He is. Yuu is known as a prodigy in our clan. Why do you ask?"

Mito shrugged her shoulders and sat down in the dirt without a care in the world, "I never expected a boy around our age to maintain a conversation like that with my brother. They're both 'prodigies' I think"

The Uchiha girl scoffed at that, "Yeah right, like your brother could compare to mine"

Mito growled at the girl. What's with that? She was being friendly and all with this annoying girl and she implied that her brother couldn't compare to hers? You don't insult a family of Uzumaki Mito and walk away in a good state!

The red-head smirked, "Hah well I bet my brother is far more intelligent than yours"

Sasuki uncrossed her arms and looked right at the violet orbs of the girl, "My brother could beat yours anytime he wants"

Mito's eyebrow started twitching, "Anytime? Well mine is stronger than yours!"

"I doubt it, we're training to be ninjas"

"We are too!"

"Oh? Well I bet my brother could be a way better ninja than yours"

"We're going to start training in a few days 'ttebane!"

At that Sasuki smirked triumphantly, knowing that she won the argument, "Well, we started training a year ago!"

Mito spurted out some unintelligible words, before she narrowed her eyes once again and shouted, "Well I bet my Jii-san is far stronger than yours!"

Yuu and Naruto were watching the exchange between girls from a distance with eyes full of amusement. The Uzumaki boy scratched his head sheepishly, "I'm sorry for Mito-chan's behavior. She's a little hot-headed"

Yuu waved him off, "Don't worry about it, Sasuki was the one who started it and it's rare to see her so pumped up in a verbal fight" They both laughed at that and Yuu turned to him with a question in mind, "So, are you training to be a ninja?"

"Apparently" Naruto said and when he saw the doubtful expression on Yuu's face he elaborated, "I hadn't thought about it personally, it's just that our guardian wants to train us. And Mito was always a fan of this kind of thing"

Yuu nodded at that. His clan was one of ninjas, so most families trained the next generation from a young age. Plus, they had scrolls of jutsus, exercises and stances passed down from their ancestors, giving them a huge start compared to other ninja's wanna be, and with him being the son of the clan head... The problem existed in the clan's own natural arrogance and that they depended too much on the Sharingan, the reason why his father and brother kept telling him that it was just a tool and nothing more.

"I started training with my a year ago in accessing my chakra, physical exercises, kunai and shuriken throwing... oh and basics, like writing, reading, the Uchiha basic stance, amongst other things" Yuu told Naruto his training regime when he was 3 years old, "I kept doing that until a month ago, when I finally accessed my chakra and awakened our clan Dōjutsu, the Sharingan"

Now the blond was completely intrigued. Chakra? Kunai? Shuriken? Dōjutsu? Sharingan? So many unknown terms to him and his primal curiosity awakened with his thirst for knowledge.

* * *

The Twins conversed with the other for a couple of hours until they went separate ways. Yuu and Naruto were still surprised that they found a similar mind in a boy of their age, while Sasuki and Mito initiated a 'rival-friendship' as those 2 liked to call it. Though Yuu heard Sasuki giving the Uzumaki girl a few tips to take care of her beautiful red-hair. Or it could be his imagination.

Finally, they saw the figure of one Uchiha Itachi coming their way. The twins admitted they had fun with their new friends, but they were still mad at his brother for tricking and leaving them alone.

What they didn't know was that Itachi was there all along, protecting them from the shadows while he did some chakra control exercises. And the elder boy was surprised that with all the kids in the park they had to befriend the Kyuubi's jailers. He didn't have anything against the Uzumaki Twins, but he was sure that their parents would protest against their friendship. Not that he would let them anyway.

Now he was finally in front of the twins, who were glaring at him with narrowed eyes and he just gave them a knowing smirk, "So? Did you had fun?"

"How could you do this to us Itachi-nii? That was so mean!" Sasuki said in a overreacted tone of voice while Yuu shook his head,

"I'm disappointed in you, Itachi" the boy made a great imitation of their father and they all laughed at it.

They started walking towards the Uchiha District, but then Sasuki grabbed Itachi's sleeve, gaining his attention, "Itachi-nii... you promised that you'd train us... can you at least give us a few pointers?..." the elder boy cursed mentally at his sister's puppy eyes. Well, anyway he was planning on giving Yuu a few chakra control exercises and Sasuki a few tips to meditate and find her own chakra.

"Well, we still have a few minutes..." Itachi trailed off as he looked at the sky. Indeed, they had a few minutes before their curfew. "Fine then, please follow me"

The elder boy stopped in mid-track when Yuu and Sasuki were both glaring at him once again, "Don't you dare..."

"To disappear again, Itachi-nii"

The Uchiha prodigy gulped and nodded. It was scary when they did that. "I won't, I promise"

Now they were both back to normal and followed obediently behind their brother.

Itachi took them to a small clearing just 2 minutes away from where they were. It wasn't as large as a training ground, but it should do the trick. "Now, can you tell me what is chakra?"

Sasuki looked at Yuu and he nodded, "Chakra is the moulding of physical energy and spiritual energy. It can be used to perform genjutsu, ninjutsu or to enhance our taijutsu and give us an advantage, amongst other things" he remembered that lesson from a year ago and he told Naruto the same thing just a few hours ago.

Itachi nodded and patted his brother in the head, earning a cute pout from him, "Right, so that's what we're going to work on, I''l give you a few tips to unlock your chakra" he said that while looking at Sasuki, "and going to give you a few exercises to control it with ease" he concluded while looking at Yuu.

They both nodded and Itachi signaled them to sit down as he walked and positioned himself next to his sister,

"Now Sasuki, I want you to relax... clear your mind of any thoughts and just concentrate in my voice. Breathe in... and out... try to feel your surroundings, hear my breathing, hear your brother's breathe, hear the bird's chirping..." Sasuki had an expression of deep concentration at that and Itachi kept going, "now I want you to concentrate even more. Feel your heart beating inside your chest... and feel mine and Yuu's too... perfect... now look deep inside you... do you feel a power? It's like a flame... it's your essence... regulate it's flow, make it follow your orders..." then Sasuki opened her eyes wide in shock,

"I... felt it..." she said softly and then took a deep breathe of air, making Yuu cover his ears quickly and Itachi looked weirdly at him,

"I DID IT! I FELT MY CHAKRA!"

She shouted to the heavens and Itachi cringed at the high-pitched sound. Now he understood why Yuu did it.

The girl panted a little but then looked up at Itachi, "Wow... Mito-chan was right, this feels good"

The Uchiha prodigy shook his head. Should've expected this.

"Now I want you to do this exercise when you can Sasuki, it's calling meditation and it would give you more familiarity with your own chakra" The girl nodded happily and felt proud of her achievements. Now she was a step closer to surpass Yuu, then Itachi, then her father and then the Hokage!

Yuu stared doubtfully at Itachi and the elder boy knew what exactly was going through his mind, "Ne Itachi-niisama... why Sasuki's eyes are still normal?"

"That's because she didn't awoke the Sharingan. Our Dōjutsu usually activates when the user is placed under a lot of emotional stress, though they are exceptions..." Itachi trailed off when realization dawned at his brother.

"Like myself..." Yuu said with his eyes lost in the distance.

Itachi nodded at that, "Yeah, your chakra reserves are immense, bigger than any boy your age. Maybe that's the reason you awoke the Sharingan when you first unlocked your chakra... but it's just a theory" his own were activated when the Kyuubi attacked the village, thanks to it's evil and demonic chakra.

"So Sasuki's reserves aren't as large..." Yuu repeated while Sasuki's eyebrow twitched at being left out of the conversation,

"I'm still here you know..."

"Indeed, that's why she can't do the exercises I'm about to teach you" Itachi said and before an outburst he added, "she will be doing some training to increase her reserves while you'll train to control them better" the elder boy picked up a leaf from the ground and this time stood up next to Yuu, "This is called the leaf concentration practice. I'm going to colocate this leaf on your forehead and I want you to concentrate your chakra on that point. If you do it correctly, the leaf will stick to your head. Maintain it at that position until we arrive home, do you understand?"

Yuu nodded and concentrated his chakra on the leaf resting on his forehead. The boy shook his head slowly and the leaf didn't fall down, "Itachi-niisama I di-" as soon as he opened his mouth, the leaf slowly fell to the ground. "Wha...?" And then it hit him like a big rock dropping on his head, "Concentration"

Itachi smiled at his brother deduction skills and nodded his head, "Yes, concentration is the key to this exercise. You already have a clear mind, so this should be easy for you"

Yuu grabbed another leaf and positioned it on his forehead, "Well, let's get going. okaa-sama'll be mad if we aren't there in 30 minutes" A shiver ran down Itachi's spine at that and quickly stood up,

"That's right, let's go"

* * *

**A/N: I'm also planning on doing a time-skip next chapter. Nothing much just to let you know.**

**I hope you liked this story so far and remember to leave a review if there is something I have to improve on, or a recommendation of some sort. **

**By the way, there's a pole to decide the Genin team placements of this story and your vote will be very appreciated.**

**Katon: Karyū Endan: Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet**


	5. Ch 4: The last straw

**Deathgeass: Perhaps, who knows? Let's see how the story goes. **

**ada2012: Now now, like I said before I want the characters to grow as the story progress. The different events would develop their individual personality. But I agree with you, I should've put some more effort in making each of them unique from the start. Anyway thanks for your review. **

**A/N: By the way, there's a poll in my profile to decide what are going to be the Genin Team Placements of the story, so if you could check it out it would be amazing. So here it goes**.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"And then he fell down his rear! Sasuki was so pissed off at me for laughing!" Yuu narrated a story and did the best impression to look indignantly, gaining him laughs from Sasuki, Mito and Naruto. "What? I got it wrong again?" the boy asked innocently, facing them now with a stoic expression.

Naruto wiped a tear from all the laughing and nodded his head, "Sorry, sorry. You're exaggerating the expressions so much it's funny! I told you to keep calm and try to think about the emotion you want to show, but only hint it... don't get it all over your face"

They met just a day ago and they were talking like long best friends. Currently the Uzumaki Twins were trying to teach Yuu to mask his emotions properly using various masks, not only the stoic one and it was difficult even for him.

"Tch. Whatever" The Uchiha boy sucked on his teeth annoyed, grabbed a leaf from the ground and put it on his forehead, "So are you going to try to unlock your chakra? It is the first step to become a ninja"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave the same sheepish smile as always, "I think we should consult our... guardian first"

Yuu just shrugged his shoulders, "If you want to"

To say Mito was ecstatic was a huge understatement. She didn't really know if the Uchiha Twins were going to be back the next day, but they didn't mind being around them at all! She could proudly call them their first friends... though the girl was annoying sometimes. Her Jii-san was right... and she should thank Jiraiya for bringing them here.

The two girls walked away to tak about... girl things and Yuu sensed a uneasiness coming from the boy next to him. He seemed to be struggling inside himself about something, so the Uchiha boy decided to do something about it, "Hey Naruto-san, is everything okay?"

That brought Naruto back to reality and once again scratched his back and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry about that... just thinking"

"Thinking 'bout what?" The Uchiha inquired and Naruto dropped his smile instantly, making Yuu go serious too.

"It's just that... your parents didn't tell you to... stay away from us?" Naruto asked with some difficulty but Yuu didn't fully understand. Why his mother or father wouldn't want him to be close to his friends?

But wait a second, he remembered his mother's smile falter slightly when Sasuki told her yesterday about their new friends.

Still that didn't make any sense! What was wrong with Naruto and Mito? They were both good people so far...

Naruto took the silence as a hint to keep talking, "Well... people usually ignore and shun us... we don't really know why"

"They're idiots" Naruto was surprised by the easy answer of his new friend, "I don't see anything wrong with you nor Mito-san. In fact, I think you're way better and intelligent than any 4 years kid like us"

Naruto smiled at the answer, "Thank you, Yuu-san" he thanked the Uchiha boy with all honesty and he mean it. The respect he had for him just raised up a few levels.

"Hm?" The boy tilted his head, not knowing why he was being thanked for. He was just stating the truth "No problem..."

They both stayed like that, leaning on the tree's bark in a comforting silence, enjoying the rusting of the leafs, the faints voices of their sisters having an argument, the weird white-haired girl watching them... wait what?

"Shishishi... what a peaceful sight, don't move please"

She was wearing a white gown that matched her white hair pretty well and pale skin. The only thing that stuck out were her eyes. A brilliant blue, brighter than even Naruto's.

"Sorry, but it's rude to stare..." Naruto told her with an easy-going smile. Yeah, what do others found wrong with the Uzumaki twins? What a mystery...

The girl laughed weirdly and decided to reveal herself fully. She was slightly taller than any of them and her appearance was almost... angelical, "Shishishi... yeah what a rude lady I am... my name is Tsukiko, but you can call me Tsuki" she finished with a spin and a wink.

"Right Tsukiko-san... I am Uzumaki Naruto and he is my friend," that word sounded funny on his mouth and the boy felt eager to use it, "Uchiha Yuu... now how could we help you?" Naruto stood up and asked politely, while Yuu watched from the side-lines only with his left eye opened, still leaning on the tree.

The girl walked to them with extreme elegancy, smiling all the way, "Well you see... I was tired of playing with those boring guys and decided to take a recognition tour around the park when I found two extremely cute guys relaxing under a tree" the girl giggled at their dumb expressions, the navy-haired one was the first to cover it with a smile,

"How old are you Tsuki-san?" Yuu asked with genuine curiosity. The girl appeared one or two years older than them, but he needed to be sure.

Tsukiko pouted at him and crossed her arms with a huff, "Now you're the ones being rude! It's impolite to ask a lady her age didn't you know?"

The Uchiha boy resisted the urge to face-palm at that, but Naruto continued where he left it, "When you were born?"

And again he resisted the urge to face-palm. She wasn't going to fall for it, it was impossible, "4 years ago in July 2"

Yuu stared at her incredulously and blinked a few times. The girl noticed it and turned to the navy-haired boy questioningly,

"What?"

Realization dawned at her, as Yuu said, like a big rock falling on her head, she gasped and pointed at Naruto with narrowed eyes,

"Y-You cheater! That wasn't fair!"

Naruto chuckled while Yuu extended his hand out her way with a disarming smile, "We're sorry, welcome to the club"

"Club?" She asked but shook his hand nonetheless, "what club?"

Naruto and Yuu exchanged looks and the blond boy was the one to answer her, "The... 4 year old Konoha geniuses?"

Said girl looked at both of them weirdly before going into a fits of giggles, "Shishishi... that name sounds so stupid"

* * *

(5 Months Later)

"Again Yuu, do it again!" Fugaku ordered his younger son who was kneeling and panting heavily in the training ground, surrounded by burnt trees and fire all around. "Five was your maximum a week ago, now do it a seventh time!"

Said boy felt all his chakra drained away, but managed to stand up ignoring the pain at the best of his abilities, still a small hiss escaped his lips. 'I can do it... c'mon...' Yuu reached for a necklace hanging at his neck and felt the form of its crescent moon. It was a gift from Tsukiko for his 5th birthday a few months ago.

'I need to do it if I want to see my friends this week...' he deactivated his two-tomoe Sharingan and did 2 hand-seals that ended with the Tiger seal, "**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**" he took a large intake of breathe and exhaled a huge fireball that completely destroyed the trees that were standing in front of him. 'I... did it...' were Yuu's last thoughts before he let darkness take him.

Fugaku sent a clone to retrieve his son and smiled proudly at him. In the last few months his progress was outstanding, gaining one more tomoe for each Sharingan, learning some more fire techniques, increasing his already enormous chakra reserves, mastered the tree-climbing exercise for chakra control, started incredibly in genjutsu, completely mastered the Uchiha basic taijutsu, improved his precision to 9/10 instead of 7/10... and Mikoto said that his progress in kenjutsu was as impressive as everything else.

The clone came back with a unconscious Yuu on his arms, clutching the necklace with all his might. That was the only thing Fugaku wasn't satisfied about. The kid seemed to have befriended some no-name people that took a day from his training and made him softer than he should be.

It was all thanks to Itachi. He shouldn't have let him take them to the park that time... everything he taught the boy about how was Uchiha were superior than other beings, about how they were invincible and that they were always underestimated... the boy refuted it all, saying that he was becoming a ninja not only for his clan, but for his family. Fugaku didn't understand what the boy meant with that. His family was the clan only, but the boy just smiled when he told him that...

He needed to find a way to make the boy see the reality of the world... and he had an idea that could work perfectly...

* * *

It was finally the day to meet up with his friends and Yuu walked quietly with both of his hands inside his pockets next to his sister. They both grew up a little, now Yuu's hair completely covered his right eye and stopped at his shoulders whereas Sasuki's twin ponytails were longer.

They both wore a dark-blue shirt with beige shorts, although Yuu was covered in bandages... again.

The Uchiha boy smiled faintly and clutched the crescent moon on his chest, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Sasuki, "You really liked Tsukiko's present didn't you?" She admitted that she really liked hers. It was the missing piece of Yuu's own and together they made a full moon. Opposing to theirs, she also gave the Uzumaki twins two separate pieces and together they made a sun. When they asked about it, she said it was an 'advanced birthday present'.

That girl was still a mystery to her. She laughed a lot and was very funny and pretty amiable, but something seemed off...

Yuu clicked with his tongue in a despising manner, "Tch. Shut up, you're annoying" Sasuki rolled her eyes at that. Once again with the 'I'm tough' act.

She sprinted in front of him, turned around and stuck out her tongue, "You know your masks don't work with me Nii-san. My eyes see everything!" right when she exclaimed that, Sasuki turned around and hit herself with a post.

Yuu chuckled at that and kept walking, with a pissed off Sasuki right behind him, "Oh all-seeing Sasuki-sama, please mind your way and avoid posts"

She growled dangerously at him. Here he started.

"Posts, the principal enemy of all-seeing beings"

Her eyebrow twitched even more, but she kept her composure and walked behind him, rubbing her sore head.

"Their major weakness"

Now he was really pushing it.

"Oh no! Be careful Sasuki! This place is full of posts!"

Oh how she wanted to punch him one time, two times, three times...

"Don't worry! I'll protect you with my life!"

"Can you please shut up!? Kami you're annoying!" Sasuki shouted and launched herself at Yuu, who easily avoided her but she caught his shirt's collar inside her hand and managed to get on his back, pulling on his hair rather painfully.

"Ow ow ow! Get off of me!"

That was the scene Mito, Naruto and Tsukiko came into.

"Shishishi... are we interrupting something?" Her distinctive laugh and tone of voice made the twins paralyze and turn around to face the new arrivals who were smiling with overflowing amusement.

Sasuki jumped, using his brother's shoulders as a stepping stone, making him face-vault into the floor. She maneuvered skillfully in the air and landed on her feet, where she dusted herself and stood up. Well, Yuu wasn't the only one who improved through the months.

The Uzumaki twins didn't change much. Naruto wore an orange shirt with a spiral in the middle whilst Mito wore a green one with blue shorts, much like her brother's. Her whisker-marks were apparent as ever, with her violet eyes being as innocent and expressive as always.

Their biggest growth wasn't physically, but rather mentally. They learnt how to write and read properly, started doing some daily exercises, both unlocked their chakra and picked up the basics of Fūinjutsu, all thanks mainly to Jiraiya and to some extent their best friends Yuu and Sasuki.

Talking about their relationship with the white-haired man... it was better than before. They had unique interactions and it was amusing to watch.

Tsukiko was completely the same, still wearing the white gown,just that her hair got slightly longer. Even though both Sasuki and Mito tried to convince her of being a ninja and training with them she always excused herself. Her most used one was 'I don't have the guts to risk my life for another person"...

Naruto and Yuu didn't inquired on it. She had her own dreams and imposing one on a person was wrong... but still they kind of wanted to know more about their other best friend. She had a mysterious aura all around, but they didn't mind it at all. It was part of her personality and they liked her anyway.

And though she didn't say it, they suspected she was an orphan like Naruto and Mito, although it was just a speculation.

Yuu stood up and dusted himself much like his sister, "No no, this was just some brother/sister bonding" he addressed them and earned laughs from everyone except Sasuki, who hit him in the head.

"C'mon, I'm hungry..." the Uzumaki girl's stomach rumbled at that precise moment, giving credibility to her statement, "Let's go eat..." she took a large intake of breath and everyone quickly covered their ears, waiting for the shout that never came. Instead, they heard laughter "Hahaha... idiots... anyway let's go eat ramen!"

"Of course Mito shishishi... lead the way!" Guess who said that.

* * *

"Another A-rank mission successfully completed under 2 weeks... I'm certainly impressed Itachi-kun" Itachi bowed low in gratification at the praise coming from the most powerful shinobi in the village. Hiruzen puffed some smoke from his pipe and kept his piercing eyes on the Uchiha prodigy. It wasn't normal for a Chūnin... no, scratch that, it wasn't normal for a 11 years old kid to go into A-rank missions. They were classified like that because of their difficulty and they were usually handed to Jōnin and Kage-level ninjas.

So imagine his surprise when lil' 10 years old Itachi came to him 3 months ago asking for A-rank missions. He thought of declining immediately, but something made him think twice and so he decided to give him an... 'easy' A-rank. Well, imagine again his surprise when said boy completed it with perfect procedure and praise from the client... in just 1 week! What kind of training was this kid going under?

And that returned to this... he wasn't sure the Chūnin would cut anymore for the young prodigy. But Hiruzen couldn't bring himself to do it, to destroy another boy's childhood. So the council decided for him, at his back, and gave a recommendation about Itachi entering the ANBU that was accepted almost immediately. Now the only thing he could do was to give the boy a month to decide.

"So... are you considering your entry to ANBU?"

Itachi finally raised and nodded his stoic face. The Third Hokage sighed at this, he was getting too old for this.

"Dismissed"

* * *

Itachi walked out of the Hokage Tower lost inside his mind... he wasn't sure he could challenge his father right now, but his training was giving him results. A recommendation for ANBU? He never would've thought of that. He hadn't tell his family the news... as if his father wouldn't approve.

Talking about his family, he was seeing them less and less over the months, busy with training and missions... it was a good idea to take Yuu and Sasuki to the park, it turned better than he expected. Now they had other friends their age and they wouldn't be so alone.

The last time he saw the Twins was on their 5th birthday... and they surely have grown.

Yeah and seeing the Uzumaki girl pranking at his party with her brother running behind her begging her to stop... and he was surprised when Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, came to pick up the twins.

On that topic, it seemed Fugaku learnt about that in a council meeting long time ago and increased his son training. But anyway, Itachi got Uchiha Shisui to train Sasuki and give her tips and pointers so she wouldn't feel left out and that he did. The girl improved by leaps and bounds and was already able to form a small **Gōkakyū no Jutsu**.

Everything was going alright, Itachi concluded. But he had a feeling that something was going to happen soon.

* * *

Yuu was staring at his gawking friends from the bark of a tree... horizontally. "I tell you, the water-walking exercise is way more awesome than this. And way more difficult too" He had mastered the tree-climbing this week and had almost mastered the water-walking.

"It is... amazing..." Naruto mouthed dumbly. Imagine the possibilities! You could climb buildings, run horizontally through the Hokage Monument, jump from tree to tree... what an amazing thing chakra was.

"Hmph, show off..." Tsukiko looked away with the usual huff, but she was stealing glances at the 'awesomeness' of the technique, "I still don't want to be a ninja if that's what you're trying to do, you can't convince me"

Yuu shook his head and dropped to the ground, where he immediately was attacked by a excited Mito, "Wow Yuu! That was amazing! Teach me, teach me how to do it pleaaase? I just thought of the perfect prank and I would need this technique!"

Naruto awoke from his stupor and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, trying to calm her down "Mito-chan, you know that ninja techniques aren't to be used in pranks..." the girl eased at that, 'But it would be fun to watch' the Uzumaki boy added as an afterthought.

"I'm sorry Yuu, but it was just so amazing!" Mito praised the boy and he merely laughed, when the voice of his sister cut it off,

"Hm Nii-san, didn't father told you to go with him at..." The girl didn't finish when Yuu suddenly started running to the exit of the park.

"Oh, oh you're right! I'm sorry I have to leave so soon! I promise I'll be back!" The Uchiha boy yelled at the distance, making everyone sweatdrop.

"That was... fast" Naruto commented on his speed. It was way faster than his... he should upgrade his weights... "Is Yuu still training excessively?" the boy asked Sasuki with a serious tone of voice.

The Uchiha girl sighed at that and leaned on a tree with her arms crossed, her usual position "He is... every single day this week he came unconscious and when I woke up he was already gone to keep training" she shook her head at that, "He and Itachi-nii are so alike in that sense" remembering Itachi brought a slight tinge of pain since it was so long when they saw eachother for the last time. She hoped that he would be back soon, as he was the only one who could stop Yuu in hurting himself.

"Do you know why is he training that much?" Tsukiko asked with a surprising low voice, though the others were used to hear it.

Sasuki nodded at that, "Father told him that if he wants to be here on Sundays, he would need to surpass all his expectation on every day of training"

Tsukiko sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "That again... I'm sorry to say this, but your father is a douchebag"

The Uchiha girl laughed quietly at that. She agreed with the white-haired girl, "Don't worry, he is"

Naruto decided to enter the conversation at that point, "Any ideas of what they're going to do?"

"I hope it isn't anything bad..." Mito looked at the sun setting in the horizon with a few birds flying and doing impressive formations,

Sasuki couldn't help the feeling in her stomach that something bad was going to happen, "I hope too. It is the first time he called him on a Sunday"

The silence reigned after that until Tsukiko sighed dramatically, "Anyway, I think we're worrying too much. Maybe it isn't anything and just a father/son bonding shishishi" all of their expressions brightened at that,

"Yeah, Yuu can take care of himself. He's by far the strongest in our little group... I think in our age group" Naruto added.

"Though he's sometimes an idiot..." Sasuki mumbled to herself.

"But the majority of the time he's a genius..." Tsukiko thought aloud.

"He can take care of himself" Mito reassured herself and they all concluded he could take care of himself. They started playing around once again, though the feeling in Sasuki's stomach was still there. Perhaps eating ramen every Sunday was unhealthily?

* * *

"Where are we going, tou-sama?" Now a stoic and emotionless Yuu walked beside his father, a huge contrast to the kid a few minutes ago. He met with his father at the Hokage Tower and they started walking towards their destination, still unknown to the boy. He wasn't sure what it was, but Fugaku told him that after this he still had time to play with his friends.

The Uchiha clan head kept walking stiffly, not even acknowledging the villagers who stopped and nodded in respect. "You'll see what real ninjas do" that's all he said and Yuu wondered about it inside his mind, 'What real ninjas do?...'

They stopped after a few minutes in front of a huge building with a sign that read 'Konoha Intelligence Division' and Fugaku motioned with his hand to follow him. "Here we are, now don't move" the man did a few hand-seals, but Yuu didn't notice any changes. "Alright follow me closely behind"

Yuu shrugged his shoulders and obeyed. The building was full of Chūnin ranked ninjas, much like Itachi, and were talking casually. Fugaku went straight ahead to talk to the receptionist while the ninjas bowed to him, as he was a clan head.

"I need a permission to enter the Torture and Interrogation section" Fugaku said simply and the receptionist answered without looking up,

"Sorry sir, I can't do that. Its entry is forbidden to anyone outside the Force..."

Fugaku grunted and that made the receptionist look up at who she was talking to. She did a double-take to confirm the sight and widened her eyes when he stayed the same,

"I'm sorry Fugaku-sama sir, I didn't know it was you... Please forgive me, here it's your permission" she said quickly and gave Fugaku a small pass.

His father didn't say anything more to the woman, just walked away with him on his toes.

The people were decreasing in number as they walked through the halls and doors until they were walking completely alone.

They halted once again in front of a metal door and Yuu thought about how big this building was. "Prepare yourself Yuu, you're about to see what ninjas do in almost every mission. What I do, what Itachi does and what you'll do eventually" with that he opened the door and Yuu could only widen his eyes.

There was a large glass separating two rooms, one which was where Yuu and his father were currently standing. Meanwhile in the other one was a man binded by metal chains to a chair. He had blood seeping from all over his body, marks of burning and hits, his clothes were completely ragged and he looked like he was starving. Next to him was a masked ninja with a kunai covered in blood on his hand.

Yuu's mouth dropped and no words wanted to escape from it. And he couldn't look away either, even if he tried and tried. Fugaku pressed a button and then they could hear what was going on inside the room... with a scream of pain and anguish.

"STOOP! I ALREADY TOLD YOU EVERYTHING THAT I KNEW! JUST LET ME GO ALREADY!" The man cried desperately and Yuu awoke from his stupor and quickly tried to look away. The key word being tried, because his father grabbed his head and force him to turn again,

"Watch it Yuu, don't look away. This is what it's real, not what you say about 'friendship' and 'protecting everybody'. This is a _real _ninja"

The Uchiha boy tried everything, to close his eyes, to fight against his father's grip, but he was way stronger than him.

"Please stop..." The boy begged softly and the man started screaming again,

"I HAVE A DAUGHTER THAT'S WAITING FOR HIS FATHER TO RETURN!" the masked ninja shook his head and started walking towards him,

"P-Please... stop..." Yuu tried once again but his father didn't let him look away. His tears were falling freely now.

"PLEASE HAVE MERCY! PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU!" the kunai was now on his throat.

"PLEASE STOP!" Yuu shouted with everything he had, but the only thing it did was to activate his Sharingan and the next sight was engraved in his mind.

"PLEAS-" The man cries died and were replaced by a disturbing gurgling sound as the kunai cut through his throat and blood spurted out of the wound like a spray, painting the crystal with a red color. The masked ninja just threw the kunai nonchalantly and without care in the world and said in an emotionless voice altered by his mask that now was covered in the man's blood,

"You were no longer useful... and useless trash should be disposed of as soon as possible"

Yuu's entire body froze at that and fell to his knees, 'W-W-Wha...?' His mind was blank and could not process anything, it just had the image of the man being drowned on his own blood, then the voice of his father sounded through his head, 'This is what I do... what Itachi does... and what you'll do eventually...' the boy shakily looked at his hands and saw blood on them.

"You always say that you want to protect your family... in order to do so, you need to destroy others" Fugaku finally said and then the boy took off at impressive speeds. The man shook his head at his son naïvety... this is what was wrong with the village.

From a young age they told you how the strength came when you protect those who you care about, but all it created were useless dreams about peace and unified nations. What really mattered in this world was power. The only way to peace was showing everyone a greater power and making them bow to you in fear, destroying everyone and everything that opposed you.

'The boy would get it eventually' Fugaku thought to himself, 'and the genjutsu I cast on him should wore off after a few minutes. With his speed, I think nobody's going to find out' The thing was that civillian entry was absolutely forbidden. But his son needed the experience. He should back down from his cloud of happiness and dreams. There was no place for people like that in this shinobi world.

* * *

Yuu ran aimlessly through the streets of Konoha. The tears won't stop and the image of the dying man would not leave his mind, accompanied by the voice of his father, 'This is what Itachi does... and what you'll do eventually. You always say that you want to protect your family in order to do so, you need to destroy others' the boy finally spotted the Uchiha District and ran to it at full speed.

When he was about to open the door to his house a voice behind alerted him of another presence, "Nii-san?"

He turned around quickly to his sister, he needed some kind of comfort but when he was about to hug her all he saw was a bloody corpse of her. Yuu screamed and quickly opened the door, backing away from the sight "G-G-Go away! Don't get n-near me!"

"What's wrong Nii-san!? You're scaring me! Stop playing games!" The zombie entered the house and when the light of the entrance illuminated her, it was replaced by a Sasuki holding a bloody kunai with a creepy and mad smile.

Yuu couldn't take it anymore and fell to the floor hyperventilating. That's when Sasuki noticed his tears and the drool coming out of his mouth that her fears were confirmed. She rushed to his side and could hear him repeating over and over again between his quicks intakes of breathe, "P-P-Please stop..."

Sasuki began to panic and yelled frantically, "SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP! SOMEONE ANYONE!"

Itachi arrived home an hour ago and was reading a scroll inside his room when he heard his sister's cries of help from downstairs. The Uchiha prodigy was there in just a few seconds with a kunai ready and saw Sasuki looking all around for something, "Sasuki! What's wrong?"

The girl turned to her brother and he could see the tears and the desperation on her face, "ITACHI-NII!" she breathed and pointed anxiously at the entrance. Apparently the shock didn't let her talk, so Itachi hurried to the door.

There he saw why his sister was so scared and his ominous feeling was confirmed much like his sister.

On the floor was a hyperventilating Yuu, who was staring blankly at the ceiling without moving at all. In a blink Itachi was next to the boy checking him, "What happened!?" Itachi asked rather harshly and Sasuki gulped.

"I-I-I don't know... we were playing in the park and then... father made an appointment with him... and I found him like that at the door... yelling at me to g-go away" she said between sobs and Itachi could see that the girl was at a breaking point,

"Don't worry he's going to be okay" Itachi picked up the boy easily and made his way to the door, "wait here for kaa-sama and inform her of what happened. I'm going to take him to the hospital"

Sasuki nodded and watched as Itachi disappeared into the night with her brother in his arms. The girl dropped down and cried into her hands. She didn't know why she suddenly felt like this, but her gut was telling her that nothing would be like before ever again.

When Itachi was at a safe distance he narrowed his eyes, his expression turned murderous and he tightened his grip on the young boy. He was struggling to contain his killer intent, but just because his brother was already in a bad state.

So his father was the responsible of this? That was the last straw. Itachi couldn't suppress his ire any longer.

The Uchiha prodigy's eyes steeled at the same time as his resolve and continued his way towards the hospital. This was indeed the _last _straw.

* * *

**A/N: First battle next chapter, I hope. Can you guess who vs who? **

******Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique**


	6. Ch 5: Itachi's resolve

**Pain814: I plan on adding some canon... eventually. And thanks for your review.**

**FrozenLemonade: Thanks for the criticism, I really appreciate it. I know I use too many unnecessary words to express actions but sadly English isn't my first language. I'm reading some dictionaries to upgrade my vocabulary though, I hope it gets better with time. And I know the feeling bro.**

**A/N: Yay! First battle... 'n stuff. I wrote it yesterday but... it kind of exploded. Whatever here it is. **

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"You're naïve Itachi..." Fugaku taunted from his place, a few feet away from his son "And your naïvety will kill you eventually"

His father's comment didn't affect the Uchiha prodigy at all, he was still staring at him with indifference. "Naïve...?" he repeated and took his fighting stance, "Perhaps I am" he silently activated his three tomoe Sharingan and positioned his hand inside his kunai pouch.

"I'll give you one last chance to consider your actions and walk away from this challenge without injury" Fugaku warned and didn't make any move at all, apart from his lips.

Images of Yuu and Sasuki flashed through Itachi's mind. Their first words, tooth, walk, laugh, birthday, friends... then Yuu laying down on a hospital bed due to mental stress and a crying Sasuki beside him, "This is my resolve, father..."

With that Itachi disappeared in a surprising burst of speed and a loud 'clang' ringed through the clearing. Both Uchiha were in a stalemate with their kunai blocked by the other, but Fugaku was gradually pushing Itachi thanks to his greater strength.

Itachi jumped backwards but his father didn't follow with any attack, he just stood there looking right at him with his own matured Sharingan.

"Do you see now? I'm stronger than you! I have more experience in battle than you! I'm superior!" Fugaku exclaimed with a huge unnatural smile, then he let his arms fall at his sides. His hair shadowed the Sharingan, and the man spoke in no more than a whisper, "I'm more powerful"

Itachi's eyes widened and leaned to the right, narrowly evading some kunai that embedded themselves on a tree with a solid 'thud'

The boy quickly did a few hand-seals in the blink of an eye and yelled the name of the technique, **"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" **Itachi fired a mass of small fireballs directly at his father.

The man didn't move from his position, rather did a single tiger seal and blew a huge fireball to counter the small ones, **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu"**

Fugaku smirked at his son stupidity, but dropped it when he saw some red projectiles coming out of the firewall at impressive speeds. He couldn't avoid them in time and the heated shuriken cut right through him.

The boy was oblivious if his plan succeeded because of the flames blocking his view, but he seriously doubted it. He stood up once again waiting for any movement when he felt a cold steel to his neck and froze.

"You lose" Itachi's felt his father's breath on his neck but then dissolved in a flock of crows. Fugaku widened his Sharingan in shock and felt the invading chakra on his senses,

'A Genjutsu... clever Itachi...' the man silently mouthed 'Kai' and his surroundings started to form little waves until they stopped and everything was normal once again.

**"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"** Fugaku heard Itachi's voice from behind him and quickly jumped to a safe distance. He turned his head in mid-air but couldn't see Itachi anywhere.

The Uchiha clan head landed and immediately heard a whistling sound from the distance. Thanks to his Sharingan he could see the two shuriken and their trajectory, so Fugaku avoided them easily... or so he thought until he felt the blood trailing down both of his cheeks. 'Wires!' he realized quickly and saw a kneeling Itachi a few feet in front of him.

The boy had both of his hands closed and bring them down. The shuriken that were flying behind Fugaku returned in a 'X' fashion and separated his head from his body... until it puffed and left just a cut log.

The real Fugaku was rubbing his neck behind a tree 'Uh... that was so predictable' but in reality that was a close call. If it wasn't for a desperate Kawarimi he would be down by now.

The kneeling Itachi stood up and turned to look at Fugaku directly in the eyes with his Sharingan spinning and still with an emotionless expression that infuriated Fugaku,

'Damn it he's playing with me! Time to get seri-' a familiar hiss interrupted the man, 'An explosive tag!?'

Itachi watched impassively as his 3 tags exploded at the same time, throwing wood splinters all over the place.

He heard clapping from behind and turned to the sound. Fugaku was standing with his clothes a little burned at some places, but all in all he was unharmed,

"Impressive Itachi... but a simple strategy like that can't hope to scratch me"

The prodigy wasn't expecting to win so quickly, but he felt disappointed that all he did was just a few burns with the attack.

Both of their faces remained stoic and Itachi made the first move once again, throwing some shuriken at Fugaku.

Thanks once again to the Sharingan, he blocked the two easily with just a kunai and concentrated once again on his son. 'What was the point of that? Distraction... but he's still at the same place...' the clan head calmly deduced and a small smirk formed on his face, 'not that he could bypass my eyes'

'Time for plan B...' the Uchiha boy prepared a technique once again with hand-seals faster than a normal eye could follow, **"Magen: Kasegui no Jutsu****"** Itachi whispered and made eye-contact with his father, who suddenly felt his surrounding change once again.

'A Genjutsu again? What a disappointment Itachi' everything turned a red color and the only things there were Fugaku and his son.

The clan head decided that it was enough and tried to move his hands, but found that his body wasn't responding to his commands. Before he could think of another way of breaking out, a huge spike formed from thin-air above him and slammed into his torso at full force.

Fugaku tried to scream at the pain, but once again he couldn't move. He was completely paralyzed. 'SHARINGAN!' The man ordered mentally and the illusionary world crumbled away, leaving him panting on the clearing. What a terrifying genjutsu... sadly it couldn't hold up against the power of his Sharingan, Fugaku thought.

He caught sight of Itachi's back running into the woods and smirked mockingly, regaining sense of all his muscles and ran towards him. 'Running away? Shameful' though before entering the forest he stopped and thought about it. He almost fell inside his son trap like a child!

Or so he thought... until the background changed once again and he was surrounded by trees, 'Wha...?' reacting by instinct Fugaku twisted his body just in time to avoid a punch to the solar plexus. The man immediately countered with a low kick, but Itachi jumped high and landed on a branch of a tree nearby. 'He placed me on another genjutsu! But when...?'

His musings were disrupted again when Itachi dropped to the ground and sprinted towards him with incredible speeds. Fugaku's Sharingan predicted all his movements and he readied to counter them 'So Taijutsu? That's a bad choice Itachi...' the man knew every move and alteration of the Uchiha's stances. And the best ways of countering it.

Fugaku prepared to block from the right but felt a solid hit to his left. It didn't make him lose his breath, but it hurt and annoyed him.

The boy didn't wait to press his attack and once again the strike came from the opposite side. 'Another Genjutsu? Damn it' the man concentrated his sight and once again found intruding chakra messing with his senses.

He dispelled it quickly, just in time to dodge a kick and felt satisfied when his punch connected with Itachi's gut. Said boy gasped for air and stood in shakily legs. His father wasn't pulling out his blows, that was for sure.

Itachi saw his father running towards him in slow-motion, another amazing ability from their Dōjutsu, and started doing hand-seals faster than the normal eye could follow but Fugaku could see them clearly. His eyes widened, he recognized that technique anywhere.

And it couldn't be possible. His _son_ performing a jutsu he, an élite of elites, tried but failed.

Ram, Horse, Snake, Dragon, Rat, Ox, Tiger…

**"Katon: Karyū Endan" **Itachi spewed a single stream of fire that took the form of a dragon-head. Fugaku could only widen his eyes in shock and denial as the fire engulfed him and continued on its path of destruction, obliterating anything on its way.

The boy was kneeling on the ground, wheezing and coughing 'This jutsu… it's still too chakra-taxing for me…' he watched the flames burn everything left standing, then he felt a big chakra surge from the other side and following his gut ran away in the other direction.

**"Fūton: Daitoppa" **Fugaku, now without any shirt, watched as his son's own jutsu was turned against him. The wind took the flames off of the ground and merged with them, the wind providing more oxygen that increased the fire's heat. The wall of intense heat completely destroyed the forest on Itachi's side.

The man again reacted again on instinct to parry a few shuriken coming his way. The two Uchiha took in the other's condition with calm and calculative expressions.

Fugaku was shirtless and breathing a little heavily, thanks to the Fūton jutsu, but disregarding that he was unscathed…

On the other hand, Itachi's condition was worse for wear. He was panting for all the chakra depletion, his gear was completely wasted and had burn marks here and there.

The Uchiha clan head gave a superior smirk. He was clearly winning this match. Fugaku caught movement with the corner of his eye and turned in time to meet another Itachi running in his direction. 'Damn it! Another Genjutsu' he was beginning to feel the anger building up. The man dispelled it easily, but neither of the Itachi's disappeared.

'A Kage Bunshin?' Fugaku thought, but something wasn't right… he tried dispelling another genjutsu and shock was clear in his eyes when the clone's chakra flow changed completely, concentrating mainly on its belly 'A Bunshin Daibakuha!' but the clone was just a couple of feet away from him and the chakra expelled from it in an explosion.

The real Itachi felt a chakra signature coming from under him and moved just in time to avoid being grabbed by two hands coming out of the ground.

The boy turned to the crater of the explosion and saw a small hole next to it, 'He got away...'

"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu... a very practical jutsu" Itachi narrowly avoided a kick from behind by ducking, "I copied the technique from a Iwa shinobi in the Third Shinobi World War" a straight punch to the right, lean to the left; left hook, dodge to the right; quick snap kick, block and sent flying a few feet from the impact "Do you think you can win against a war veteran?" Fugaku concluded with a smirk and quickly sprinted towards Itachi to continue his assault.

The boy, seeing as taijutsu was a bad idea, quickly prepared a technique with the little chakra he had left **"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"**

Fugaku responded with hand-seals of his own, **"Doton: Dosekiryū" **A mud dragon head formed from the earth and _ate_ the huge fireball before falling to the ground.

When the dust cleared it revealed several Itachi's waiting in different stances. The man didn't wait any signal and rushed towards the real Itachi. Thanks to the Sharingan he could see who was the real one and what were just clones. Though he was surprised that his son had enough chakra left to make this many.

His surprise didn't last when he launched some shuriken at the nearest clone and they seemingly hit nothing, 'They're normal Bunshin... what a disappointment. He lost' Fugaku ignored the remaining illusionary clones and sprinted towards Itachi who was just... standing... there... 'A trap!' he felt a presence coming from the left and spun just in time to cut his neck and hear a poof.

The man didn't stop there and kept spinning until he faced Itachi and judging by the surprise on his face that was his trump card. 'Clever... using normal bunshin to distract me and blend a Kage Bunshin to attack from my back... but nothing can escape my perfect eyes... it's over'

'C'mon...' Itachi whispered mentally, watching his father's kunai nearing his shoulder in slow-motion. 'C'mon...' he repeated once again and when it was just seconds from piercing him, he shouted mentally 'Now! Kawarimi!'

Fugaku smirked when the kunai pierced through his son's shoulder but soon narrowed his eyes when he felt something off. Before he could contemplate it better 'Itachi' exploded.

**BOOM!**

The explosion shook the entire clearing and engulfed some of the borderline trees. It launched a smoking Itachi through the air until a tree stopped him. He stood up, using the same tree as support and almost face-palmed at his stupid plan. Of course the explosion caught him, the Bunshin Daibakuha didn't have enough time to get away from the radius of it.

The boy coughed some more to clean his lungs from all the smoke. 'I don't have any chakra left, my everything is sore, I lost my kunai and shuriken pouch inside the explosion, I'm exhausted...' and then he felt all his hope crumble away when a figure revealed itself from the shadows. It was his father.

Fugaku's entire arm, the one holding the kunai that pierced through the clone, had burn marks all over it. They reached past his shoulder, but his expression remained stoic without a single trace of pain. The only sign of fatigue was his breathing, short and heavy.

"Itachi... Itachi... what a disgraceful state you're in" the man commented mockingly and Itachi smirked at that,

"The same for you, father..." Fugaku narrowed his eyes at the come-back. He wasn't this injured since a long time ago and he was grateful that his pain tolerance didn't faltered through the years. He spent all his chakra on avoiding the explosion, he was injured, without any weapon and felt tired... the same as his son.

The man sighed, all the adrenaline from the battle leaving his system "You can't train Yuu, Itachi. You're way busy with the _Hokage_ missions" he spat the name with obvious distaste "and your new ANBU position"

Itachi widened his eyes in surprise. He hadn't told anybody about his ascension. Fugaku noted his son's expression and smirked,

"Don't antagonize me Itachi, everything I do is for the well-being of the clan. It's my job as the clan head" Itachi's anger reached a boiling top and he snapped,

"Then what about what you did to Yuu!? Do you call that 'well being'!? He could be traumatized for life and it's all your fault!" Fugaku shook his head and signaled Itachi to calm down,

"I used your life as an example... don't you remember? You were shown the truth about the world at a young age and look at where you are right now! Almost ANBU! A position most Uchiha could only dream of at that age!" Fugaku grinned at his son and Itachi was shocked. He hadn't seen his father's smile like that ever, "I'm proud of you, Itachi, the same way I'm proud of Yuu and Sasuki"

Itachi kept his emotionless gaze at his father. It was true that he faced the gruesome death of many people during his first years thanks to the Third Shinobi World War, and thanks to that he trained to protect the peace that reigned this days. But for some reason he couldn't accept Yuu suffering the same fate. He wanted him to have a normal childhood, with friends, to play, to laugh... everything he didn't have.

But... Fugaku's great expectations of him bring some warm into his heart. Perhaps his father really did everything for the well-being of the clan... still he needed a conclusion and he didn't want to continue Yuu's training so soon.

"Father, I want you to stop Yuu's training" Itachi said straight forwardly and Fugaku, surprisingly, considered it. He certainly didn't want to waste so much potential... the boy read his father's thoughts by his expression and added "Decrease it. I want Yuu and Sasuki to enjoy their childhood"

At that Fugaku grinned once again, the boy thinking that he'd never get accustomed to this "I understand..." Itachi's eyes widened in surprise, "but... you'll enroll as an ANBU. I want to hear a report once a week about any important information"

"What are you planning?" The boy questioned quickly. His father was nearing dangerous territory.

Fugaku lose his grin instantly and the atmosphere did a 180, a tense silence filling the air, "The village suspect that we, the Uchiha, were behind the Kyuubi attack. Don't you feel someone watching you every second? They're keeping surveillance on every single member. That's also the reason we're exiled to this ugly corner of _our _village! The same village our ancestors helped to build! I'm planning to recover what was ours in the first place!"

Itachi shook his head sadly at his father's plan, "So a coup d'etat? That's considered treason"

Now Fugaku smirked, knowing exactly what to say "You'll work as our spy Itachi and I'll decrease Yuu's training, that's our deal"

The boy remained calm on the outside, but in the inside it was a turmoil. All his feelings were mixing up and Itachi couldn't decide... risking a civil war or his brother's childhood... but in the end... "I'll do it, father" Fugaku gave a winning smirk as his son bowed low and suppressed the urge to laugh. Finally his plan to overthrow the Hokage would start!

'I'm...' Itachi remembered at that moment everything that occurred in the week.

**Flashback**

_"He doesn't want to wake up" A platinum blond man spoke sadly to the family, Mikoto, Sasuki and Itachi. _

_The small Uchiha girl held his older brother's hand tightly and looked at him with fear and doubt. She seemed so fragile at that moment, it pained Itachi greatly but he needed to be strong, "W-What does he mean with that Itachi-nii?" her voice was broken and raspy from all the crying, her eyes bloodshot with unshed tears._

_Mikoto put a reassuring hand on Sasuki's shoulder and separated her from Itachi. She nodded at Itachi and he turned to the doctor with a stoic expression, indicating him to elaborate._

_"It's just as it sounds. He built up a mental barrier that even I can't bypass. He doesn't want to accept the reality of what he saw" The blond man explained to Itachi._

_The boy looked at him with a little hope in his eyes, "Are there... any other way to awake him?" _

_The Yamanaka took a deep breath at that. He wasn't one to break this type of news to 11-year-old kids but... "Other than trying to talk to him one last time... the only viable option is to erase his memories"_

_Itachi felt his mask cracking and gulped a sudden lump in his throat, "E-Erase his memories?" the boy repeated uncertainly and the man nodded grimly. _

_"Not completely erase... rather block. But if you chose that... he would need to be away from anything that could remind him of his past. In other words, you couldn't see him again" _

_The man's sympathy look, his sister's cries, his mother reassuring words... Itachi couldn't react to any of it. He felt hatred building up, all this was his father's fault... but before he took any rash decision, a sudden thought of hope froze the time, "I... I want to talk to him" _

_The blond sighed. It was possible to bring Itachi inside Yuu's mind but... suddenly any uncertainty thought the man had were crushed mercilessly by the determination in Itachi's eyes. The Yamanaka nodded and told his assistant to prepare the room for a Mind-Transfer jutsu. _

_Itachi turned back at Mikoto, who was hugging Sasuki tightly. The boy lowered himself so he was at Sasuki's eye level and poked her forehead, "I'll bring him back Sasuki. Don't worry about it anymore" _

_The resolution in Itachi's voice was enough to stop the girl's tears and she wiped them quickly with the back of her hand. "I... trust you Itachi-nii"_

_The boy smiled and stood up to his full height, a little taller than his mother's stomach. He looked up at her and she nodded. _

_'I trust you too, Itachi...' the message was clear and Itachi felt a hand on his shoulder. He spun around and followed the man to the room his little brother currently was. _

_Mikoto kept caressing her daughter hair as she watched Itachi's figure disappear behind the door. Her motherly instinct was telling her that something changed inside the boy and he wasn't going to be the same after this. She knew why Fugaku did this and while a part of her wasn't happy with it, another approved of it. She also knew that this event would change her younger son forever, but it was necessary... _

_Unknown to her, Sasuki felt the same way about Itachi and Yuu. She didn't know the details of what happened, but she was sure that her twin brother... if he woke up... wasn't going to be the same. And Itachi... something about him changed drastically. His posture, the way he poked her forehead, his eyes... everything was different._

_Meanwhile, the Uchiha prodigy entered his brother's room and put a tough front... that was easily crumbling away at the sight. Yuu seemed so peaceful and at ease in that moment... didn't know what was happening on the outside... Itachi suddenly lost any desire of waking him up. Perhaps blocking his memories was a better choice... until he remembered his sister's pleading eyes, asking him to return his brother. _

_Itachi's resolve steeled and started brushing his brother's cheek gently with his fingers. The blond tried to put his hand on the boy's forehead but surprisingly Itachi grabbed him with strength that a kid shouldn't have. The prodigy widened his eyes and released his hold quickly with an apology. _

_The Yamanaka smiled at the boy, "Don't worry about it... but I don't have any ill intent towards your little brother, I just want to help. I'll put a hand on his forehead and another one on yours and transfer your conscience to his mind" the man explained the basics of the procedure to the boy and he visibly relaxed. _

_The blond tried once again to put his hand on Yuu's head and this time he did it successfully. Then he put another one on Itachi's head and told him firmly, "Okay now I want you to relax. You'll feel a slight pull. Don't fight against it, just let it take you away..." the boy nodded and closed his eyes, "Now at the count of three. One, two and-!"_

_The man's voice was suddenly cut out and Itachi opened his eyes to see a white clearing. It was just endless white any direction he turned. Itachi started walking, but it seemed like he wasn't moving at all, so he tried another approach, _

_"Yuu!" he shouted and waited for an answer that never came. And so he tried again, this time louder, "YUU! It's me! Your brother Itachi! I just want to talk!"_

_Itachi waited once again, opened his mouth to try again when, "Itachi-niisama" he heard Yuu's voice, a voice he missed so much for this past days. He turned to the direction the voice came to face a kneeling Yuu, watching the white floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Itachi ran towards him, or rather tried, because despite all the effort he put on his muscles his brother was still at the same distance. He wasn't moving at all. _

_That's when his mind registered the way Yuu said his name. It was lifeless. It lacked his usual warm, the curiosity, happiness... it was like his own voice. _

_"Yuu... what's wrong?" Itachi inquired and the boy merely stood up and walked towards him, though he was moving... Yuu halted when he was just a few feet from Itachi and looked at him with a stoic expression, "Yuu...?"_

_"Have you killed?" Yuu ignored Itachi's questions and asked one of his own. He was unprepared for that, but answered honestly nonetheless._

_"Yes" The prodigy said without any hesitation. Yuu didn't show any change of expression and kept questioning,_

_"Did you enjoy it?" Yuu tilted his head to the right, like a curious kitten._

_"No, I hated myself for a few weeks after that, couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. Every time I did, I only heard the man's screaming and every time I looked at my hands, I only saw blood" Itachi explained how he felt after his first kill._

_"Then why did you keep doing it? Why are you still a ninja if you hate killing that much?" Yuu kept throwing questions at him, "Ninjas kill for money Itachi. Why does everyone praise them so much? I thought they were awesome and I wanted to be one... but now I see. I just trained to be a cold-blooded murderer..."_

_"You're wrong Yuu... that's not a ninja's job" Itachi told his brother calmly and took a deep breath, "There are ninjas like that, scum who only kills for money or even for amusement..." the distaste on his voice was obvious "but... there are ninjas who fight for ideals, good ideals or for protecting the ones they care for... those are real shinobi, not killers" _

_The Uchiha boy widened his eyes at his brother's explanation, and Itachi kept talking,_

_"Our village Will of Fire is to fight for its sake. For its people. I fight to protect you, our sister, mother and even father... our entire clan. If I hadn't kill that man, not only you but the entire village would be in danger. So I decided, it was his life or yours..." Yuu's legs began to lose their strength at that, "I chose yours, Yuu. I always did and always will" _

_The Uchiha boy's tears fell down his cheeks to the floor "I... I'm sorry Itachi... so sorry..." He looked at his hands and they were clean once again. No blood. He could think again without the man's screams. And now he felt really bad for thinking about Itachi like a murderer. _

_He felt a pair of arms embrace him and looked up to see his brother smiling at him, "Now let's go foolish little brother, time to wake up" _

_Yuu smiled and hugged his brother back. Sasuki probably would hit him hard for making her worry like this._

**Flashback end**

'I'm sorry... Yuu... Sasuki...' Itachi apologized mentally to his brother and sister. He couldn't risk a civil war... whatever the price.

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**A/N: Remember, poll at my profile. Your vote will be highly appreciated.**

******Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu: **Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique  
**********Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu: Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique**  
**Doton: Dosekiryū: Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon  
Kage Bunshin: Shadow Clone  
Bunshin Daibakuha: Clone Great Explosion  
****Kawarimi: Body Replacement Technique  
****************Magen: Kasegui no Jutsu: **Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique


	7. Ch 6: Hospital and First Day

**Thunder Claw03: Indeed, and not only his father...**

**A/N: Long chapter... full of fluffiness and those kind of stuff. 'Why no battles this time?' I don't like meaningless fights. Yeah... that's it, sorry for the ones expecting action. **

**Anyway leave a review, tell me if you like it or if you don't... remember there's a poll in my profile, check it out if you can, please.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

Naruto, Mito and Tsukiko waited patiently outside Yuu's hospital room, though the latter seemed a little uncomfortable judging by the way she shifted on her seat and looked around nervously. They heard of what happened to Yuu and decided to pay a visit to their best friend.

"Are you sure you're okay, Tsukiko-san?" Naruto asked the girl unsurely and she stopped looking around, back to her usual self.

"I am, don't worry. And how many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Tsuki, Tsukiko or Tsukiko-chan! You sound like a stranger, Naruto-kun" She told the boy with her usual cheerful voice. She added the honorific a month ago and he still wasn't used to it. She called Yuu that way too and he wasn't sure how the boy coped with it so easily.

Naruto smiled faintly at the white-haired girl and turned to his sister next to him, who was looking fiercely at the ground. He felt the raw anger oozing from her.

Mito didn't take the news well, but he expected it. Yesterday, they encountered a silent Sasuki sitting under the tree where they first met. The first thing that caught the three attention, they met Tsukiko in their way here, was that she was alone. Like the Uzumaki Twins, the Uchiha Twins were usually seen together.

That instantly made Naruto's internal alarms to ring. Something was wrong. He could feel it.

She didn't react when they approached there, lost in her thoughts, but when the Uzumaki boy put a hand on her shoulder to gain her attention she immediately embraced the closest thing to her, at that time a bewildered Naruto, and cried her heart out.

Confusion wrote itself all over Naruto's face and before he could control his impulse he hugged the girl back and whispered soothings words to her ear. 'Wh-what I'm doing!? Ughh Mito won't let me hear the end of this!' despite his thoughts, he kept comforting his best friend, until her breathing become evenly once again and she let him go slowly.

Then he felt Mito's and Tsukiko's presence right next to him, six pair of eyes looking at her best friend worriedly with questions in their little heads. "What's wrong Sasuki-chan?" where did that honorific come from? the boy ignored it for now and concentrated once again on the Uchiha girl.

She tried to look away from the questioning gazes of her friends, but Naruto gently grabbed her chin and made her look his way,

"Sasuki, what's wrong?" he repeated, but this time with a tone that left no room for argument. The girl stifled a sob and began to tell them about how she found Yuu a week ago after he left to someplace with their father, how she felt when he yelled at her to go away, how she watched Itachi disappear with her twin brother in arms, how she waited for their mother to come home…

Then the doctor first diagnosis, her brother laying in a bed with ragged breathing, Itachi's scary eyes, how he lashed violently when Fugaku arrived at the hospital, how her mother had to intervene because it was getting out of control… and then the Yamanaka's last diagnosis, her not remembering any of that incident and how Itachi finally brought Yuu back, who explained exactly what occurred.

At the end of her story a long hours had already passed and the emotional roller-coaster was finally over. Naruto didn't know how to feel about it all, however Mito…

She didn't, _couldn't_ believe that a part of Yuu's father did that to him. In fact, she refused to believe it.

Family always did what was best for eachother didn't it? Her brother, her guardian, her Jii-chan... they wouldn't do this to her.

She didn't understand it, and because of that she felt mad. Mito wanted to hurt Yuu's father so bad, to make him go away so he couldn't make Yuu sad ever again!

Naruto somehow sensed her... unusual rage. Mito got angry for time to time, she was very easy to anger, but this time it was... different. It made him feel afraid... nevertheless, he put a reassuring and steady hand on her shoulder to keep her from doing something reckless.

Meanwhile, Tsukiko was staring blankly at Sasuki, lost on her thoughts... until she said that she wanted to visit him.

From that moment, Naruto felt something uneasy about her, but he couldn't pinpoint it exactly. She always was a mystery to him, since she didn't like to talk about her family or what she did on other days when they didn't meet.

The door to Yuu's room opened with a creak, waking the kids from their thoughts, and a nurse came out with a scowl... until she noticed Tsukiko and gave a small smile, "Oh my Tsu-chan, I didn't know you had so... influential friends. A Uchiha? Who would've guess it?"

The white-haired girl narrowed her eyes dangerously and spoke with a low tone, "It isn't like that..."

The nurse waved her answer off and let them pass, not before giving an obvious frown to the Uzumaki Twins, "He's waiting for you..."

Mito and Tsukiko didn't wait another second and hurried in, while Naruto gave a polite bow to the nurse, "Thank you very much miss"

Said nurse waved him off much like Tsukiko and continued her way. 'Tsukiko... doesn't like this place very much' Naruto deduced quietly and walked inside the room, closing the door behind him.

"Hey guys..." a very familiar voice made him turn around quickly to face a blushing Yuu being hugged by Mito and Tsukiko, with a laughing Sasuki in the background "I missed you too... so let... me... breath..."

The white-haired girl let him go with a small blush and wiped some of her tears with the back of her hand, whilst the red-head, the one who was hugging him the tightest, slowly weakened her grip on him... but didn't let him go completely. The Uchiha boy was about to say something when he heard a sob,

"Oi Mito-san... are you crying?" Yuu asked quietly and with a hint of nervousness. Mito always was the ball of happiness of the group like Tsukiko, always smiling or in a cheerful mood. He hadn't see her neither of them cry in all their time together.

The girl let him go and put herself at his eye-level. He could see her puffed red-cheeks and the trails of her tears. She hit him lightly on the head, "Baka... like someone like you could make me cry..." she spoke softly and hugged him again, this time more gently "I... you make me worry okay? I hope you feel good with yourself, making a lady feel like this"

Yuu chuckled at her bad imitation of a Tsukiko's joke, but returned the hug nonetheless. "I'm sorry, for worrying you" he whispered at her ears and then added a little louder, "Though, I promise I'll make it up for it. How does ramen sounds? I haven't eaten that thing for weeks now!"

Mito giggled and let him go with a playful smack on his shoulder, "Don't call it 'thing' again, baka. It is the food of the Gods!"

"Oh such a blasphemy from myself! I'm so sorry, Gods! I insulted your food!" Yuu exclaimed dramatically and ran a hand through his hair at the same time.

The others watched with amusement the interaction, Mito giggling cutely and Yuu saying nonsense. The Uchiha boy saw Tsukiko from the corner of his eyes and noted her awkwardness, so he stopped babbling for a second, "Tsuki-san... are you okay?"

The white-haired girl jumped slightly at the mention of her name and turned to the voice waving her hands all the way, "It's nothing,it's nothing. It's just... I have to go to the bathroom! Yeah, that..." she said a little defensively, but before any of the boys could ask about it, Sasuki saved her grabbing her hand,

"I too want to go. Hey Tomato, stop pestering my brother and let's go" The Uchiha girl finished mockingly and won herself a huge blush from Mito, embarrassment or anger she didn't know... well probably anger, and a frown from Yuu.

"I'm not pestering Yuu! And don't call me like that!" The red-hair shouted but quickly covered her mouth, remembering she was on a hospital, "Anyway, let's go" she finished quietly, trying to ignore Sasuki's laugh.

"So how about a race? The first to reach the bathroom wins" The Uchiha girl supplied with a smirk and Mito accepted the challenge quickly, forgetting all about their little fight few seconds before.

"Done!" Mito exclaimed and hurried out of the room with a cursing Sasuki behind her. Tsukiko merely shook her head and giggled alone... until a detail flashed through her head,

"Hey! Do you know even know where the bathroom is?" When both girls at the middle of the hall stopped and turned sheepishly, Tsukiko laughed at them both, "Shishishi... come follow me, it's right here"

With that the white-haired girl closed the door to Yuu's room, leaving the two boys alone... chuckling behind their hands.

"So..." Naruto started, looking out of the window. The day was beautiful, a few clouds in the sky, the birds chirped like always, the sounds of kids laughing and running... If he were in the hospital and heard this everyday... he would probably go insane. "...are you okay, Yuu-san?"

Yuu smirked and sat on his bed, "I am, Uzumaki boy. You're a sucker for honorifics, you know that?" Naruto sighed and sat down on a chair next to him,

"Not you too..." the blond mumbled to himself, "It's a way to show respect! And how do you want me to call you? 'Yuu-kun'? That sounds weird!"

The navy-haired boy had to agree with that. It sounded weird... "Anyway... what's wrong with Tsukiko? Is she... mad at me or something?" Yuu changed the topic to a more serious one and Naruto shook his head in negative,

"So you noticed it too? I don't think she's mad at you. She looks... vulnerable when she's here, in the hospital and your nurse seemed to know her. Perhaps she has some... hurtful experiences here?" Naruto informed the Uchiha boy of his point of view.

"Perhaps?... I think we should ask her about it" Yuu supplied. They didn't involve themselves on other's lives, but Tsukiko was one of their best friends. For the Uzumaki Twins, she was a special person. She accepted them and played with them like normal children and for that she'll be always in their hearts. For the Uchiha Twins, she was someone from their age they could talk to and socialize with. It helped she wasn't like the stuck-ups members of the Uchiha, or the idiots of the other kids. And they considered her a special person too.

"I don't know..." Naruto said uncertainly, but perhaps it was for the better... then something struck him and he narrowed his eyes, "What really happened?"

Yuu raised an eyebrow at him, "What?"

"What really happened?" Naruto repeated as seriously as before, then he added, "Your father using you as a test subject for a new genjutsu... sounds pretty credible to me. But not enough. Tell me what really happened"

The Uchiha boy smiled lightly at his friend. Of course he won't buy his story, so he told him what really happened... and when he finished talking, Naruto felt even more disgusted than before. "So you understand now? Being a ninja is no game" Yuu concluded quietly and looked at Naruto's form. He stared blankly at the floor and closed his hands tightly.

"I..." Naruto started but then shut his mouth again, "I... don't know..." the blond was in a deep emotional turmoil and Yuu decided to help his friend, just like Itachi helped him.

"You know... there's something called Will of Fire..." The Uchiha boy started and waited for Naruto to signal him to continue, which he did with a nod, still looking at the floor "It's an ideal, the main ideal of Konoha's ninjas... It states that every true Konoha shinobi must love, believe, cherish and fight for the village's sake. For its people. For those who can't defend themselves. Like our ancestors did..." by the end of his speech, Naruto was looking at him with something akin to awe, "That's why I've decided to be a shinobi, to protect my family... Mito, Tsukiko and you are also a part of it"

To protect... Jiraiya, the Hokage, Tsukiko, Yuu, Sasuki, Mito... "I... I'll help you to protect... _our _family" Naruto said with conviction in his voice, "I'll become a shinobi" he finished with a smile, now completely decided. Yuu smiled at him and put his fist up,

"Let's start small, with just the two of us. We're going to be called the 'protector' shinobi and that's exactly what we're going to do, protect people! Are you in?" Yuu grinned from ear to ear.

Naruto shook his head and sighed tiredly, "And Mito calls me corny..." he bumped Yuu's fist, "Alright, 'protector' shinobi" they both smiled at the other. The name sounded way cornier than the 5 year old geniuses of Konoha... Naruto was better with names, he concluded.

At that moment the door opened and came in a person the Uzumaki boy didn't recognize. He had short, messy, dark-colored hair and wore the usual Uchiha clothes with the clan symbol in the back, the Uchiha fan. Judging by his attire and Yuu's smile, he definitely was a Uchiha, "Shisui-san! How did your mission go?"

Shisui smirked at the small boy and messed with his hair, earning him a pout "Hey Yuu-kun, still the curious-cat I see? It went well" Unknown to the boys, Shisui heard everything they said about 'protector' shinobi and that brought a smile to his face. He heard from Itachi what happened to the boy and he didn't approve of it. Judging by Itachi's tone, he didn't approve of it either... but thanks to Kami that Yuu was alright and didn't have any trauma, "Oh? Where is your female clon?"

"Shisui-sensei!" A yell from behind him answered his question and he turned to face a grinning Sasuki. Itachi put Shisui in charge of Sasuki training and that spoke a lot of the trust he had on his best friend. The girl impressed Shisui thanks to how easy she learned his teachings.

"Oh there you are Sasuki-chan! How's everything going? I hope you aren't lacking in your training! I being busy with missions isn't an excuse" Even if he said that, he hoped that she didn't train like Itachi or Yuu, something he began to doubt was in the family.

"Everything's... okay" she stole a glance at his brother, something Shisui caught, "I can already do a Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu... but it leaves me exhausted... and my speed is getting better! I just won a race by far!" At that Mito huffed and turned around, while Tsukiko giggled with her signature laugh.

The event still troubled her, Shisui deduced. He wasn't an expert on reading body language, but it was clear to him that Sasuki and the white-haired were uneasy about something, and that something probably being Yuu. He had to talk to Itachi about this, "That's great Sasuki-chan! Hey, have you seen Itachi around here? I thought he was going to be with Yuu-kun"

"Well... Itachi-nii has been weird lately... he said he was going to the Hokage Tower" Sasuki felt worried about Itachi, since he had been distant and colder... his eyes seemed different.

Shisui caught on this too and nodded, "I see... well I think I'll be going my way now. Yuu-kun, Sasuki-chan take care" he nodded to the other occupants of the room, sorry that he didn't have the time to meet them and left. 'Protector shinobi huh?... I'm glad he thinks that way. Self-sacrifice... that's a true ninja'

* * *

"I see..." The Hokage nodded grimly and puffed smoke from his pipe to ease some stress, not that it would work with the news he just heard. The Uchiha planning a coup? Those were the kind of news that he certainly didn't want to hear. How everything went wrong so fast? He studied the boy kneeling in front of his desk. He wasn't lying. "Rise Uchiha Itachi"

The Uchiha prodigy stood to his feet with an emotionless face and stared at the Hokage. Indeed, how everything went wrong so fast?

"I'm grateful, Uchiha Itachi, that you chose the village well-being over your family's... but why?" He had to know, it wasn't everyday that a boy betrayed his family. The only thought of a coup, if proved, could condemn the Uchiha to execution for treason. So was it fear that Itachi felt?

"I can't risk a civil war, Hokage-sama" images of blood and death began to flash inside Itachi's mind, "I saw... atrocities from the Third Shinobi World War when I was a kid... I can't let it happen again. No when I can stop it, no matter the cost"

Hiruzen nodded wistfully at the 11 years old boy. Such a huge burden for one so young... at that instant, an image of the Uzumaki Twins came to the Hokage's mind. He couldn't... he couldn't do anything once again. "You're going to be a double-agent Uchiha Itachi. I'll try to amend the ill-treatment did to the Uchiha Clan and you're going to report me if they change their mind about rebelling. I hereby promote you to ANBU, this is your first S-rank mission. Your code-name will be Weasel from now on"

Itachi bowed low, "I understand Hokage-sama"

"You have my respect, Uchiha Itachi. Now, dismissed"

* * *

"Oh look how much you grew! And those cheeks!" A Uchiha woman grabbed both of Yuu's and Sasuki's cheeks and pulled them to painful distances.

"Ow ow ow" the Uchiha twins wailed but to no avail. "Come on, we're already five years old" Yuu said a little embarrassed, but the woman kept on pulling their cheeks.

Thankfully, Mikoto decided to intervene on that moment, "I think that's enough... they'd want to meet their new cousin, isn't that right?"

They nodded their heads vigorously at the first chance to escape the woman's grip, and she let them go. Their cheeks were both red and they rubbed them to reduce the pain,

"Thanks" Yuu mouthed to his mother and she nodded with a smile.

The woman ran outside the room and came again, this time with a little bundle in her arms, "Awakey awakey, little Aiko... these two are your cousins, say hi to Yuu-chan and Sasuki-chan!" the baby girl opened her onyx eyes and raised her little arm towards her mother. She had a mop of black hair on her head.

Yuu quietly approached the woman with Sasuki behind him, "Her name's Aiko? What a pretty name..." the woman smiled at him and offered the bundle,

"Oh? Thank you very much Yuu-chan. It means 'loved child', don't you love her already?" she laughed, making the baby laugh with her, "What a cheerful baby you are Aiko!"

Yuu took the bundle gently and revealed the cute face of Aiko, looking at him curiously and laughing "Oh... she's so cute..." the boy whispered and a small smile appeared on his face, "Hello Aiko-chan... my name is Yuu, your cousin" he rubbed a finger through her cheeks softly and she giggled at her touch.

"It's my turn Yuu! Let me hold her!" Sasuki whined behind him,

"Hear that voice? That's your other cousin Sasuki. She's my sister, please get along with her" Yuu whispered again to the baby girl and turned to Sasuki, holding the bundle out for her to take, "Here, grasp it carefully and firm"

The girl nodded impatiently and grabbed the girl with utmost care, "Oh hello there Aiko! I am Sasuki, nice to meet you! I promise I'll be a great onee-chan! Yeah like Itachi-nii" she babbled and the baby laughed at her.

Itachi watched all this from upstairs with a small, true smile. He would've enjoyed spending time with his family, but... he had training to do. He engraved the image of Sasuki holding a little bundle on her hands and a laughing Yuu next to her with his Sharingan, put on his new ANBU mask and took off.

Sasuki returned the baby girl to the woman and gave a thankful nod. The woman took it with a motherly smile, "Why don't you go out and play? I heard there're a few kids around your age that want to meet you two"

Yuu and Sasuki looked up at Mikoto for confirmation and she nodded,

"They're in the park. You can walk there alone right?" The twins once again turned cutely to their mother for confirmation and she nodded once again, covering her giggle with her hand, "Be safe" Yuu nodded and excused himself, with Sasuki after him.

The Uchiha Twins walked through the Clan District's streets silently and Yuu noted the pensive look on Sasuki's face, "Oi... are you okay?"

The girl kept looking forward with a frown, "It's just that... did you see Itachi-nii?"

"Nii-sama? Yeah, I think he was inside his room" Yuu answered a little uncertain.

Sasuki turned her worried eyes to her brother, "Don't you find it weird? When there's a visit he usually greets and spends time with us..."

Well... it made sense for Yuu. But no point in worrying about it, right? "You're probably thinking about it too much. Perhaps he waited for us to leave and talk about... adult stuff?"

The girl nodded, "Yeah... maybe you're right. Anyway! A race to the park!" the girl exclaimed, changing the mood completely. She didn't wait for an answer and started running, then looked behind her to mock Yuu, but he wasn't there,

"Done" She heard a voice beside her and when she turned, Yuu passed her by far, waving at her with a dumb smile, "You're slow!" his voice echoed through the streets and Sasuki narrowed her eyes. She sped up, both arms at her sides, and guided a little chakra towards her legs to increase the speed.

* * *

"I think I won..." Yuu spoke softly and watched as Sasuki regained her breath. The girl glared at his brother and he waved his hands in a placating way, "Oi... it wasn't my fault"

"Yeah it was!" The girl shouted at him, "Just because your reserves are bigger! It's not fair!" she kept yelling with a scowl, feeling anger building up.

Seeing that his sister was serious about it, he lost his smile, "Calm down Sasuki, it's just a game"

Sasuki narrowed her eyes even more and stood, though still panting, "A game?..." she didn't know why, but she felt extremely pissed at Yuu right now, but calmed herself before saying anything wrong, "You're right..." her expression brightened, "It's just a game"

The Uchiha boy looked at her weirdly, but decided not to comment about it, "Come, I heard someone's playing over there, probably our family"

The girl nodded and followed him into the playground, lost in her thoughts. She didn't notice Yuu watching her intently from the corner of his eye,

'Something's wrong...'

"Hey there! Isn't that Sasuki-chan?"

"Oh yeah! She is!"

"Your mother probably convinced her! But... who's the guy beside her?"

"Hahaha! I think that's her brother! They're so alike!"

Yuu's thoughts were interrupted by a chorus of young voices, coming from kids with the Uchiha Clan symbol on their backs, "Hey, do they know you?" Yuu asked his sister in a hushed tone. Sasuki turned to him with a dark look, but after a blink it was gone,

"Umm yeah... I met them while training with Shisui..." she spoke in the same hushed tone, "They saw me training, so they're kind of..."

"Hey Sasuki-sama!" A little boy's voice interrupted her and Yuu's look turned to one of shock and disbelief, "Oh Kami, what did you do to them?"

The Uchiha girl turned to the group with a sweet smile, a technique she learned from Mikoto, "What did I say about calling me like that?"

There were 4 kids, 2 boys and 2 girls. They all seemed older, probably by 2 or 3 years, than the Uchiha Twins, except from the little boy who previously yelled at Sasuki. They all shivered in fear from the tone of voice and apologized in unison, "W-We're sorry!"

"Okay..." Yuu started with a whisper, "You trained them well" Sasuki giggled and a smile appeared on the boy's face. She was normal again.

The 6 approached the twins, the tallest of the boys ahead. He had a sturdy physique, with dark, messy black hair. "What's up Sasuki-chan? That guy's causing you trouble?" He asked with a smirk.

Yuu exchanged looks with everyone before pointing dumbly at himself, "Me?"

The boy rolled his eyes and nodded, "Yes you, idiot"

Sasuki put herself in front of Yuu and narrowed her eyes, "Don't mess with him Kenji, he's my brother Yuu" The girls all looked interested but the bulky kid Kenji just shrugged him off, "Yuu, that guy is Kenji, the small one is called Ryū, Mao is the brown-haired girl and Riko is the black-haired one" she introduced quickly.

Yuu gave a stiff and respectful nod to everyone, "I'm Uchiha Yuu, a pleasure to make acquaintance with you"

The girls squealed at the 'cute' sight while Kenji snorted but before he could say anything Sasuki's glare stopped him, "I told you, he's my brother. Don't. Mess. With. Him" but the Uchiha girl admitted that she did it mainly to protect the idiot from his brother.

"He looks exactly like you Sasuki!" A little kid's voice interrupted their interaction and everyone turned to Ryū pointing at Yuu, "If we put two ponytails he would be pretty like a girl! Pretty! Pretty!"

Yuu's time froze and he could only hear the kid's mocking voice in his mind, "Pretty! Pretty!" For some reason, it sounded deeper and scarier.

Sasuki turned to look at him intently and turned around once again. After a few seconds of her not moving, Yuu found the reason for it. He heard Sasuki's barely contained laughter!

The Uchiha boy sighed, all of his pride broken and trampled by a little kid of all. Well he still was a little kid too. The group was so engrossed on their laughter that they didn't feel the presence of three other people. Everyone except Yuu, who felt a smile appear on his face, "Hey guys..." finally! an escape from this humiliating feeling.

"Shishishi... what's this? Finally one of your bad jokes worked?" The usual giggle of Tsukiko warned Sasuki of her arrival, so she managed to recover her composure.

Yuu face-palmed when the other group started laughing at him as well, 'It was good while it lasted...'

Naruto, like always, got under control his laughter first, "Sorry man, but you have to admit that it was a good one..."

The Uchiha boy shook his head and clicked his tongue, "Tch, whatever"

The other group seemed to finally regain their bearings and the first thing Kenji saw, was the face of _those_ kids. He grabbed Ryū's shoulder and moved him behind his back. The other two Uchiha girls reacted to his movement and frown, putting themselves on his back too.

Sasuki watched all this with a doubtful expression, whilst the other group didn't catch a glimpse of them yet.

The atmosphere turned tense in just a few seconds and it wasn't before long when Naruto felt it. And then, everything went downhill,

"Why are _those _freaks here?"

Renji's spiteful voice stopped the laughter of Mito and Tsukiko, made Yuu turn to him with a frown and Naruto to, unconsciously, put himself between the two groups.

Sasuki's eyes widened in surprise. For the short time she knew Kenji, she could tell that he was rather harsh, blunt, rude... but she never expected to hear such contempt and despise from his voice. From anyone, really.

"Who are you talking about?" Yuu had the suspicions, but he needed confirmation. If his theory wasn't wrong then... he didn't know how he would react. Probably not peacefully.

Kenji narrowed his eyes even more and stood protectively in front of the other 3 Uchiha, "Sasuki-chan, get behind me quickly! Mother said that red and blond-hair meant trouble. Those two aren't normal!" He completely ignored Yuu's question and growing dark aura at the mention of red and blond.

Sasuki didn't catch on it at all, but she quickly moved behind him, seeing as they looked at her with such fearful gazes. Once she moved beside him, she decided to ask, "So? What are you, oh so bravely, protecting us from?"

Kenji didn't catch the sarcasm or decided to ignore it, but he threw a pointed look at the Uzumaki Twins, "Didn't your mom tell you to get away from them? All they bring is trouble"

Sasuki caught the meaning of his mention of 'red and blond hair' with the pointy look. Yuu did too, but before he could say anything Naruto beat him to it,

"Don't worry about us, we're actually leaving right now... We're sorry for being here..." He said apologetically and backed off slowly,

"Naruto?" Yuu questioned softly but Kenji interrupted him again,

"What!? You know those two!? Then you're garbage like them!" Nobody seemed to notice the ever-growing dark aura Yuu was emitting, except for Naruto maybe, but the blond didn't feel it because he concentrated too much in finding an excuse to avoid problems,

"No! No! He doesn't know us..." Naruto said with a forced smile and at that moment felt Yuu's killer intent, "Y-Yuu... go with the flow... we don't want to trouble you..." he mouthed at his friend, but he ignored it, "Anyway! We're not frie-"

"Naruto..." Yuu started with shadowed eyes, his back to the blond, "If you finish that sentence I swear I'll burn you with the biggest fireball you'd ever see in your life..." Naruto gulped and backed away, "And you..." he decided not to activate his Sharingan but he was damn tempted, "Please, don't _ever_ insult my friends again. Or else..." he waited for Sasuki to complete the sentence, but it never came. He looked up to her and she had confusion all over her face. 'What... Sasuki?'

The girl felt his brother look, but no words came out of her mouth, 'They... favor me over Yuu... they think I'm stronger... if I say that Naruto and Mito are my friends they'll...' She lifted her head a little to give a sorry look at the other group, 'I'm sorry...'

Kenji snarled and turned around, "Heh... c'mon, let's find another place to play without freaks on it" All the group turned their backs on the other 4, but Sasuki's remained a little longer. She felt bad for betraying her friends but... she couldn't make herself say anything.

When they were all gone, Yuu's shoulders visibly dropped and glared at the floor. He couldn't believe what Sasuki just did. Why? Why did she...? He couldn't find a reason!

Mito's heart clenched painfully inside her. Finally she found her best-friend... but at the end she ended hating her like everyone... would Tsukiko and... Yuu end up hating her too? She wouldn't endure it. The red-haired girl approached silently to the boy, looking down with sad eyes... it was all her fault... she put a hand on his shoulder, "I... I... I'm sorr-"

Yuu turned to her with a small smile and covered her mouth, "Don't say that, you shouldn't be. It wasn't your fault..."

She almost broke down in tears when she saw the kind smile, "But... Sasuki..."

"It was her decision" the Uchiha boy spoke with steel on his voice, the smile still on his face, "For all that's worth, I'm sorry... for her... now let's have our fun!" Mito couldn't bear it anymore and ran away quickly, wet cheeks with teers.

"Mito!" They all shouted, but the girl kept running without looking back. Yuu sighed while Naruto scratched the back of his head. What just happened?

"I'm going to look for her" Naruto said with narrowed eyes, but before he took off Yuu grabbed his shoulder, "Alone" he added and the navy-haired boy relaxed his leg muscles.

"We'll be waiting you on the benches" The Uchiha boy said seriously. If he didn't tell him this, they would probably don't come back to the park. And he really needed to talk to them.

Naruto nodded solemnly and Yuu lifted his hand, letting the blond boy after Mito. After all, he would know better her hiding places. He sighed once again and started walking to the benches with the white-haired girl on his toes, "Any ideas?" he broke the silence after a few seconds.

"Hm? About what?" The girl looked at him curiously. Yuu trashed around his mind, trying to find an answer but...

"Of why everything went so wrong?..." he supplied weakly. He didn't understand... he felt weak and useless... should he go and kick Kenji's ass? Should he take Sasuki despite her protesting? Should he help Naruto look for Mito, ignoring his request?...

The boy suddenly tumbled a little and his eyelids felt heavier... but a firm grip supported him and didn't let him fall. He turned weakly to see Tsukiko looking at him with the most worried eyes he had ever seen. He felt... safe.

"Please sit down..." the white-haired girl helped him sit on a bench nearby and quickly checked him over, "How do you feel?"

"Tired... but it's nothing serious, please have a sit too" He suddenly felt the urge to reassure her and she breathed in relief,

"Oh... you scared me there Yuu-kun... don't you know it's impolite to do that to a lady? Shishishi"

For some reason he didn't want to let her hand go... it felt so warm... and her laugh sounded... peaceful. She smiled softly at him and guided his head to rest against her shoulder, caressing softly his hair,

"Don't you know that kids your age can't feel like that?" she asked and he looked at her with half-lidded eyes,

"What about you?" He retorted.

The white-haired girl sighed and looked away, "We're... different Yuu-kun" she turned back at him and he gazed at her with his piercing onyx-colored eyes... ones that you cannot lie to... she shook her head out of the trance, "A-Anyway, you're complicating things. Little fights like that always happen..."

The boy closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, "Perhaps you're right..." he put a hand on his crescent moon pendant and opened his eyes once again. Now, he couldn't let this chance go away, "You're... avoiding something Tsuki-san"

The girl's eyes changed drastically and it reflected great loneliness and pain, but Yuu couldn't look away, "I... am so jealous of you, Naruto, Mito and Sasuki, you know..." She started and listening was the only thing Yuu could do, since he tried to move his muscles but to no avail, "you all have someone worth dying for... isn't that why you're all training to be ninjas?"

She smiled sadly at him and kept stroking his head, "Remember when we told eachother what was the most important thing in your life? Sasuki smirked and said training, Mito exclaimed ramen, Naruto explained why he chose books and you smiled... and said family while I whispered that the most important thing to me was... my life"

Yuu widened his eyes on the memory, "So... that's why you don't want to be a kunoichi..." Tsukiko nodded with the same sad smile, "I see... then don't worry" he suddenly stood up, scaring Tsukiko once again, but before she could ask anything he turned to her with a grin, "You don't have to be a ninja... I'll protect you with my life, Tsuki-hime"

She looked at him clearly shocked, her eye-sockets still increasing in size, her heart just skipped a beat. Tsukiko suddenly hugged Yuu with all her might and he barely heard her weak whisper, "P-Please... call me again like that..."

Yuu didn't understand what happened, but was happy to obligue, "Tsukiko-hime"

"A-Again..."

He smiled and held her tenderly, "Tsukiko-hime"

"Again"

"Tsukiko-hime..."

* * *

(1 Year Later...)

"Academy, academy, a-c-a-d-e-m-y" a red-haired girl chirped happily as she spun around, "Nii-chan, do you know what today is?"

A blonde boy answered his sister for the fifth time, "Our first day in the Ninja Academy?" It was obvious that the girl was excited about it. She didn't stop rambling about how awesome today was going to be since they left the house.

"You sure look happy Mito-chan. I hope you keep your studies with the same enthusiasm" a tall white-haired man told the girl with a low chuckle.

Mito turned to the third companion with a grin from ear to ear, "Studying is boring! I just want to learn kickass jutsu! Something you didn't teach us at all, you pervert"

The blonde was about to scold his sister when the man stepped up with an indignant expression "Pervert? I'm tired of telling you that I'm not just a pervert! I'm Jiraiya, the super-pervert!" the Sannin declared proudly, then added "And I taught you basic sealing! That's included in the 'kickass' category!" but found Mito gawking over a ramen-stand, clearly ignoring him. A tick-mark appeared on his head and he said something that sounded like 'ungrateful kids' under his breath.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled lightly at their interaction. It has been like this since they met. And thinking about it, it has been already 1 year and a half… the 2 years were almost up now. The boy must admit, they built a bond with the man stronger than any before and separating would be… painful.

The blonde put those thoughts on the back of his mind for now. Today was a special day for the Uzumaki Twins and he didn't want to ruin it. Yeah, this was their first step to become ninjas and soon the villagers will acknowledge their presence…

Jiraiya looked sideways at the siblings and gave a small smile. Naruto definitely resembled their father while young Mito, their mother. Not only on the outside, but in personality-wise. The fiery, hot-headed temper of the girl, her love for ramen and pranks… and the polite, easy-going and calm boy, his love for training… It was like seeing a young Kushina and Minato.

They absorbed the basics of the sealing arts like sponges. Even now, they wore their own gravity seals, saying that weights were unpractical. All in all, the twins improved greatly through the year. He taught them the academy jutsus and Naruto mastered every single one of them. Mito… well, she did too… except the bunshin.

Naruto had incredibly big chakra reserves thanks to his Uzumaki bloodline and his control was exceptional, thanks mainly to the Uchiha boy's tips. Mito… her reserves were already big for the same reasons as her brother but… thanks to the Kyuubi's chakra, it increased even more. Something that didn't make any sense at all, since Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed inside him too.

That was the reason of many nights without sleep to Jiraiya, just reading and trying to decipher both seals. And even after all that, he just had a theory about it.

Minato didn't seal half and half of Kyuubi's chakra. It just… it didn't match. Mito had those whisker-marks, something that Naruto lacked. And their chakra signatures were completely different. Mito's was more… wild, uncontrolled whilst Naruto's was calm and soothing.

Another thing was Mito's stamina. It was infinite. After hours of physical training, she didn't feel winded… and Naruto had a better awareness of his surroundings. The reaction time of the boy was impressive. Sometimes he could read your emotions like a book, despite him being you know... a _Sannin._

So… Minato sealed two entirely different type of chakra in each of the twin. What kind? He didn't know… _yet._ He would keep his research for answers… That's the kind of genius Minato was, the one who made a seal master like Jiraiya look like an idiot baby trying to resolve complicated Maths' problems.

Leaving the white-haired man with his thoughts, Mito decided to talk with Naruto. The silence was getting to her,

"So?" she simply said and Naruto raised a single eyebrow at her, so she elaborated, "Do you feel... excitement? You know that feeling when you're happy and anxious for something"

The boy sighed at what Mito was implying, "I feel excitement Mito-chan..." at his sister's look he added "I just don't express it... much"

"You're always so serious and stiff! You need to relax Nii-chan! This is my first step to become Hokage and your first step to... become my right-hand!" the girl's grin was contagious and soon Naruto joined her with a smile, "We're almost there! I'm so excited!" she said just as the Academy's building could be seen at the distance. "Do you think we'll make more friends there?"

"Of course" Naruto said confidently, "remember what the Third Hokage said all those years ago, we aren't alone, we just need to keep trying. Soon the village will accept us completely" he recited seriously and almost stumbled when his sister laughed at him.

"Geez nii-chan, I mean if our age group finally grew up enough so we can talk to... you're so corny sometimes" Mito kept giggling at her brother's blush, "But... thanks. I haven't forgotten those words" The old man's words... still drove her to keep trying and to never give up.

"To answer your question, I hope so..." Naruto said more to himself than to Mito. "I heard that Yuu and Sasuki are joining today aswell"

Mito nodded at that. She remembered Yuu mentioning it last week. The Uzumaki twins were still best of friends with the Uchiha boy, but that was their only affiliation to _that_ clan. For some reason, all of their members hated the Uzumaki more than anyone and passed that hatred to their former best-friend Sasuki.

Thinking about the Uchiha Twins, they changed a lot throughout the year in Mito's point of view. Yuu was way more quieter than before... sometimes he will watch his hands blankly without saying anything for _hours_ and read those boring things Naruto liked too, called books. Sasuki... well... their friendship didn't improve since that accident a year ago, but she heard from Yuu that her admiration for Itachi grew to insane levels. She treated him like a saint, someone who never did anything wrong...

Even Naruto changed! Yuu's training addiction rubbed to him, he spent less and less time with her... she felt kind of lonely, so she tried gaining his attention... by pranking him. That is, until Jiraiya told her to stop. Since he actually trained her, she decided to listen to him.

Anyway, she hoped that by being in the Academy together, they would be more like brother and sister again. Perhaps even making more friends! It was always nice to have more!

* * *

"Remember what I told you, Yuu, Sasuki" Fugaku told his children with his usual stoic expression, "don't disappoint me" when they both nodded seriously, he let a small smile to appear on his face, "I know you won't..." he added softly.

Sasuki's still wore his hair in two ponytails but they were even longer than before, reaching her mid-back, with a dark-colored shirt and light-gray shorts.

Yuu changed his outfit to the Uchiha usual clothes, a high-collared, long-sleeved dark blue shirt with the Clan symbol on its back and dark-gray shorts. He cut his hair recently, but it almost covered his right eye. He had a very effeminate cute face and big round eyes, much like his sister. Despite all his physical exercises, he had a slim built.

Mikoto patted Yuu's and Sasuki's head affectionately and gave them a big motherly smile, "Take care you two, I'll be back for you in just a few hours. Don't get into... trouble" Yuu's eyes narrowed a little at that, since he knew what his mother meant by that. When she heard about what happened, she for some reason decided to support Sasuki and keeping her away from the Uzumaki Twins. She even tried to convince him! That alone made Yuu lose a big chunk of respect he had for her, but he still loved her like a mother.

Sasuki nodded at Mikoto with a big smile, while Yuu nodded more stiffly. She felt a painful twist on her stomach every time her son looked at her like that... but everything she did was to protect them. She didn't have anything against her late friend's children, but their clan despised them... and because of Yuu's involvement with them, they despised him too. Was she a bad mother for trying to protect her child?...

Itachi poked his brother on the forehead and he pouted. The boy knew telling him to stop wouldn't do much, Itachi just had a thing for poking foreheads... no, poking HIS forehead. "Remember why you are becoming a ninja Yuu. And... please look out for our sister" Yuu nodded at his brother and hesitantly took his sister's hands,

"Bye..." He said softly whilst Sasuki waved at them with a small smile. The two entered the building without looking back.

Fugaku's expression darkened and he turned to Itachi, "Why are you here Itachi? Didn't you have an important mission?"

Itachi rivaled his father's glare and didn't back off, "My siblings first day in the academy is more important than any mission, father... family comes before the village, isn't that what you taught me?"

The Uchiha clan head kept his narrowed gaze at his son, "Hm" after a few seconds he grunted and walked away.

Mikoto looked at his older son for a few more seconds before following Fugaku. Her family... was tearing apart.

Itachi turned to the Academy one more time before walking off, heading to the Hokage Tower.

* * *

"Okay class calm down, time fore introductions" A man with a scar across his face told the classroom patiently, though the kids ignored him. Yuu sighed from his seat, the far away right corner with a pretty view of the village. Sasuki sat in front of him, next to Kiba, the guy they met a few years ago. The boy changed his appearance, though his messy brown hair was the same. He had some purple marks on his face and wore an over-sized jacket.

Next to Kiba sat a girl with spiky dark-red hair named Fuki from what he heard, and the weird girl keep stealing glances at him... the boy felt rather intimidated. He really wanted to sit beside Sasuki but -he looked at the two empty seats beside him- yeah... perhaps they would make up if they sat near eachother... he let his head fall on the wood table, making a soft 'thud', yeah right... he tried everything, but Sasuki was stubborn. For some reason she preferred the other Uchiha's opinion than her true best-friends... or were they?

"Class! Cut the chatter for later! Introductions!" The Chūnin, Yuu deduced by the vest, teacher slowly lose his patience. A tick mark appeared on his face. Oh, a great class again... what were the chances? There was absolutely nothing that could make this worse!

At that exact moment the door to the class opened and in came two figures... the last two persons he would've wanted on his class. The red-haired girl hummed cheerfully and she walked like she owned the place and behind her a blond scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "Sorry... are we late?" Yuu raised his head from the table at the familiar voice. He didn't know how he could find him from all the different voices, but he was sure that it was Naruto's. And in cue, Sasuki froze.

"Oh no, it's alright since it's the first day... there're some available seats at the right corner, if you don't mind" The teacher felt proud at how neutral his voice sounded despite who he was talking to... but Naruto could see it in his eyes. The hatred... the blond shook his head and looked at the corner to see a navy-haired boy waving lazily at him with his head down. That brought a smile to his face,

"Oh thank you very much, we don't mind" The boy answered smoothly and made his way towards his seat. Mito noticed Yuu and waved cheerfully at him with her full foxy-grin.

The red-haired girl sat right next to him, earning her a couple of glares from the girls of the classroom but she easily shrugged them off. Naruto sat next to his sister.

Sasuki narrowed her eyes and looked behind her, receiving a smile and a wave from Naruto. She immediately turned around. The girl really wanted to apologize but... she couldn't.

"NOW SHUT UP YOU BUNCH OF BRATS!" The teacher yelled with an abnormally big head, bringing Sasuki out of her thoughts... well, the entire room.

"I have to learn that jutsu..." Mito mumbled with a dreamy expression and Yuu shook his head, 'You don't need it, Mito...' he added mentally.

The teacher smirked at how the entire class closed their mouths at that. It always worked, "My name is Umino Iruka! I'll be your sensei from now on, so please refer to me only as Umino-sensei, Iruka-sensei or just sensei is fine. I'm a Chūnin-rank shinobi of the leaf if you're asking yourself that question... now moving to the attendance, shout 'Here!' when I say your name"

"Hai" The class yelled in almost complete unison. Oh, perhaps it wouldn't be that bad after all, Iruka thought.

"Aburame Shino"

"Here" a quiet voice came from a boy with dark glasses. He sat at the other corner with a high-collared shirt that covered his chin.

"Akimichi Chōji"

"Mm... here" A chubby boy said and kept eating his potato chips.

"Haruno Sakura"

"Here..." called an obviously nervous girl with short and vibrant pink-hair.

"Hyūga Hinata"

"H-Here..." came the almost inaudible whisper from a dark-blue haired girl, her hair a little darker than Yuu's.

"Inuzuka Kiba"

"I'm here!" The boy yelled enthusiastically and pointed at himself.

"Nara Shikamaru"

"Here, here..." a boy said lazily and plopped his head back into his arms, seemingly sleeping.

"Uchiha Sasuki"

"Here" the girl answered almost instantly with a stoic expression.

"Uchiha Yuu"

"Here..." Yuu pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Uzumaki Mito"

"Here!" she exclaimed cheerfully and almost stood from her seat.

"Uzumaki Naruto"

"Here, it's a pleasure to meet you all" the blond greeted with an easy-going and disarming smile.

"Yamanaka Ino"

"Here I am" a platinum blonde girl exclaimed with a smile and Yuu thought she winked at him.

"Okay that's all, since it's the first day I'll let you meet your classmates and get accustomed to the feeling. This probably will be your same class for the next few years, so try to make a good first impression"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, it's just that I basically fused 3 chapters in one, erased a lot of useless stuff and there's still useless stuff in here... but there's some plot hidden. So yeah, perhaps a meaningful battle next time? Can you guess who vs who? Tell me if you want to... though I don't think you can guess this one. I really don't. (reverse psychology)**


	8. Ch 7: Motivation

**A/N: More fluff this chapter. Again, no action... again. I wrote the battle, but... I think I can do it better. **

**Just setting Yuu's goal. Anyway, leave a review if you like it or if you don't and tell me what can I improve. I'd appreciate it very much. **

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

"So how about we start with your dreams for the future, class?" Iruka supplied to the kids, who were listening silently after a Big-Head no jutsu.

Yuu sighed and bumped his head on the desk, making Mito jump a little and Naruto to turn his head with a raised eyebrow. The Uchiha boy's mood was sulky and he wanted to punch something so bad… in the lunch-time nobody wanted to sit next to the Uzumaki Twins, and he kind of expected it but… it still hurt to see Mito so crestfallen. And a group of kids even tried to 'save' him from them!

So he decided to ignore everyone and talk with Naruto about sealing arts, dropping jokes here and there to make Mito laugh. He finally got the array for containment seals thanks to his Sharingan and could now apply them and pack kunai and shuriken inside, but he preferred his chakra weights instead of the gravity seals.

"So? Who wants to start?" as soon as those words left Iruka's mouth, Mito raised her hand enthusiastically with a big foxy-grin with Naruto trying to calm her down. "Well… you, Mito-san tell us what is your dream?"

The girl took a deep intake of breath and immediately Naruto covered his ears, same with Yuu and surprisingly Sasuki, "I'm going to be Hokage 'ttebane!" the high-pitched voice echoed through the silent classroom and everyone looked at her with wonder, until…

"You? Being Hokage!? Hahahaha!"

The whole class started laughing and throwing mocking remarks. Mito blushed and covered her face with her hands, trying to disappear into the ground. Perhaps it wasn't a great idea…

Though the laughter halted when the temperature of the room dropped a few degrees. Yuu's cold and apprehensive stare froze every person who laughed. Iruka dropped his mouth in surprise. 'Killing Intent!? That's a Jōnin-class technique!'

The navy-haired boy slowly raised his hand. Mito looked at him with awe, Naruto had a small smile while Sasuki smirked,

"I want to be Hokage too…"

* * *

"And then Yuu was all like 'I want to be Hokage…' he looked so cool!" Mito exclaimed to her friend in her usual cheerful voice, making her giggle,

"Shishishi… what a gentleman Yuu is, don't you think?" she gave the boys a look but they only grunted in response, making the girls pout. They were training again.

Yuu concentrated fully on the brush he was using, drawing the array he had in his mind, "There… done" he sighed and lifted his hand carefully. Naruto took his place and watched the work critically… "If you look for mistakes with that intensity I'm sure you'll always find one, Naruto…" the boy sighed and tumbled backwards. It was his 11th try on this and the blond always found something wrong,

Naruto shook his head, but didn't move his head from the paper, "Fūinjutsu is a dangerous art Yuu… one minor mistake and it'll probably explode in your face…" the boy explained patiently and a grin appeared on his face, "but this one is perfect, congratulations"

Yuu immediately sat up from his position with a big grin, "Finally!" he exclaimed and plopped himself on the ground once again, "Now just 5 more to go… joy…" he added with less enthusiasm. The boy opened his eyes and gave a small smile to a backwards giggling Mito,

"Didn't you have calligraphy lessons last year?" The girl asked with amusement in her voice.

Yuu sighed, "I did, but the tutors weren't as perfectionist as your bro', I don't know how you two do it so easily" True to his word, The Uzumaki twins were nothing less than prodigies with the sealing arts. Though the red-haired girl always said that the formulas were boring she absorbed the knowledge like a sponge. Naruto was only a few levels ahead of her. And Yuu could only copy the arrays with his Sharingan, though he understood a little.

Naruto chuckled and decided to use a phrase the Uchiha boy liked, "Well, I think we're naturals hmhm..."

The navy-haired boy sat up and pouted cutely, "Don't use my words against me" Tsukiko decided to enter the conversation and sat next to Yuu,

"Shishishi... well, like we tried saying before, Mito told me what a hero you were on the first day of the Academy, Yuu" At the boy's blush she smirked, "You're learning how to treat ladies properly"

Yuu shook his blush off and decided to go with the flow, "Well, I learned from the best, Tsuki-hime" he said smoothly and brushed off a strand of hair covering his right eye.

This time Tsukiko blushed and looked away. It wasn't fair, he always won when he called her like that. She felt her heart skip a beat and quickly put a hand on her chest, alarming her friends,

"Are you okay?" Yuu asked quickly and she smiled nervously, nodding her head,

"Shishishi... don't worry, I'm playing with you!" Tsukiko exclaimed using her cheerful voice and a reassuring smile. Naruto reciprocated the smile while Mito sighed in relief. She thought that her best-friend was in trouble. Meanwhile, Yuu's eyes remained on her for a few more seconds before he turned.

'She's lying...'

* * *

"I'm home..." Yuu called lazily from the entrance and removed his shoes. The boy looked around, seeing as no one answered, but after a few seconds the figure of his mother appeared on the hallway,

"Welcome home, Yuu" she said with a motherly smile, "How was your day?"

The boy looked at Mikoto silently for a few seconds before answering, "Fine I guess... where's Sasuki?"

"Umm... I think she's playing around with Kenji and her little group..." she put a finger on her chin in a thinking pose.

"I see..." he simply said and continued his way,

"Where are you going?" Mikoto asked with the same smile and Yuu stopped on the stairs,

"My room" He answered quickly and went up at the same pace. His mother looked at his back with a troubled expression. Since a year ago, the boy just didn't like to talk with anybody at home and always went straight to his room or to train. She felt worried for him and for Itachi, the two of them were behaving strange,

"Yuu... are you okay?" She asked with a little worry on her tone and Yuu stopped in his tracks and turned around slowly with a doubtful expression.

The boy looked at her for a few moments, apparently deciding how to say it, but he finally opened his mouth, "Why... do people lie?"

Mikoto slowly made her way beside her son and repeated the question, "Why do people lie?" the small boy nodded his head and Mikoto gently traced a finger down his cheek, "There're a lot of lies Yuu, and each could have different reasons" Yuu listened to her intently and she smiled faintly, "but only two purposes. To deceive; this one is used for multiple things, such as making fun of someone, pranking... or concealing your own abilities and manipulate people"

"And the other one is... to protect. You lie to someone you care for very much to protect him from something... or if the truth is just too painful and hard to accept"

Yuu looked puzzled to the ground, still trying to digest what his mother just said, "I... don't like lies..."

"Even if the truth will hurt you?" Mikoto asked softly and Yuu repeated the question in his mind, "The shinobi world is full of lies Yuu, we don't know what the truth really is... and I think we'll never know"

"How can... truth hurt?" the Uchiha small boy questioned with big innocent eyes.

Mikoto completely loved those eyes, she decided at that moment. The eyes of an innocent kid... who still didn't comprehend fully how the world worked, "Sometimes it does Yuu... you'll understand later" 'Though I hope you really don't' she added mentally, but knowing his baby boy will become a shinobi someday...

The boy shook his head and looked up at his mother with conviction in his eyes, "I'll discover the truth, okaa-sama, even if it hurts... I'll endure it" The woman widened her eyes in shock but quickly composed herself and let her son go, giving him a pat on his head,

"Hai, hai... 'true' shinobi... now go and wash up, dinner will be ready in a few minutes" She walked down the stairs with a smile on her face. Finally Yuu opened to her once again and she thought of a way to thicken their bond... she'll teach him a few shurikenjutsu!

The boy kept looking at the spot where his mother stood and narrowed his eyes in thought, 'True shinobi?... sounds better than 'protector' shinobi' he smiled at the conclusion and went upstairs.

* * *

(6 Months later...)

"Well... I guess this is goodbye for now..." the white-haired man spoke with a little sadness on his voice, but otherwise he seemed fine. The Uzumaki Twins dreaded this day since a year ago, but it finally came. They were at the Konoha front gates with Yuu and Tsukiko on their sides. Mito launched herself into the man's torso and hugged him fiercely, "Ughh... gaki... we'll see... eachother again in a few years..." the red-haired girl looked up at him with shining violet orbs, full of unshed tears,

"Promise me..." she said barely in a whisper and Jiraiya lost his dumb expression and put a hand on her head with a true smile,

"I promise..." his expression changed to a one of desperation, "Now please... let me breathe..." Mito giggled at him and slowly let him go,

"I'll miss you... super pervert..." she backed away and let Naruto get his goodbye hug... or whatever men did.

The blond made his way in front of the man and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I'm no expert in farewells... but take care on your travellings. And... don't drink much"

Jiraiya chuckled at the boy and hugged him in a father-son like embrace, "You too take care of yourself and your sister... keep the good work in Fūinjutsu and perhaps you'll be as good as me in... 50 years..." they both laughed at that. They both knew Jiraiya was joking, but what the white-haired man didn't say was that if he kept learning at the same pace, he would probably be a master in a decade or more. "always remember why you are training and why you want to be a shinobi, don't ever forget that..." Yuu widened his eyes slightly at that. Itachi told him the same thing before entering the academy.

"And about the drinks... well, I don't promise anything" He let the blond go and messed with his spiky hair, "Well then, I'm going..." He turned around and started walking, "I'll see you around"

Mito hugged her brother's arm and the two watched as his figure disappeared into the distance. The sun set on the horizon and the sky turned a beautiful orange color. In that moment, the situation crashed into Naruto's and remembered years of loneliness before the arrival of the Sannin, 'Now... we're alone again...' but then he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a smiling Yuu and a grinning Tsukiko. Perhaps... he wasn't alone at all like he thought.

"Come" Yuu started and gained all of their attention, "Let's go get some ramen, my treat" Mito expression visibly brightened and jumped in joy,

"Yeah! Let's go" she laughed and grabbed his arm, sprinting slightly,

"Wow wait Mito-san! The ramen won't go anywhere!" Yuu exclaimed when he almost lost his equilibrium. Naruto chuckled behind them, while Tsukiko watched all this with a small smile.

'They look so happy... even if their guardian just left them...' Tsukiko walked at the back of the group lost on her thoughts, 'Yuu... is amazing...' She turned to the laughing boy and smiled herself. She suddenly felt a tinge of pain on her chest and halted immediately.

Naruto noticed her and spun around, alerting Yuu and Mito, "Are you okay, Tsuki-san?" the blond asked and the white-haired girl stood with a sheepish smile towards the frozen group,

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing... I just tumbled with my own feet!" Naruto shook his head with a smile and kept going, but Yuu's eyes lingered on her for a few more seconds like always,

'She lied again... is she deceiving us?... or trying to protect us?' he asked himself mentally but felt a pull on his arm from an impatient Mito and put his thoughts at the back of his head. It could wait after ramen.

* * *

(3 Months Later...)

"Konoha is planning to firm a peace treaty with Kumogakure. The head ninja is coming soon to sign it" Itachi kneeled in front of his father and informed him of what he heard.

"Head ninja?" Fugaku asked with narrowed eyes and Itachi nodded,

"A rank between jōnin and kage. Judging by that, he should be a quite powerful shinobi" The emotionless teenager told his father and raised to stand, "This is all father, I have nothing else to tell you" he spoke bluntly and excused himself, not waiting for an answer.

Once Itachi was out of hearing range, Fugaku made a motion with his hand and a ninja came out of the shadows, "Now, do you see what I mean Uchiha Shisui? He's being disrespectful as of lately and portraying a rebelling attitude"

Shisui nodded his head, but didn't let any other emotion appear on his face.

"I need you to keep an eye on him Shisui. I don't want him to do something reckless" the man nodded again and Fugaku dismissed him.

'What are you plotting, Itachi?' Shisui thought before disappearing in his famous Shunshin, leaving only leaves falling slowly to the floor.

* * *

"Itachi's way more colder with father now than before..." Yuu spoke to his friends a little scared, "I don't know what's going through his head... and it's getting worse since they named him ANBU Commander"

"Why would your father be mad that Itachi's getting promoted?" Mito asked from an upper branch of the tree they were sitting on.

Yuu thought about it before. Apparently, his brother didn't tell Fugaku and he heard about it in one of those council meetings. "He didn't inform father about it"

Mito sticked herself to the tree by using chakra and balanced upside down, her long red-hair almost reaching Yuu's face, "That's pretty stupid. Why would Itachi tell him if he was going to get mad anyway?"

Naruto resisted the urge to scold his sister about the language and Yuu nodded. He reached the same conclusion as her. She got better in thinking things through, "That's right..." he remembered the missing member of the group and turned to the blond boy, "When is Tsuki-hime coming? Our second year in the Academy starts tomorrow... oh by the way, congratulations on passing the first year" the red-haired girl stuck her tongue out at him. Sasuki and Yuu passed with flying grades and were top kunoichi and shinobi respectively, with Naruto right behind Yuu.

Mito however... she didn't like to study much, despite Naruto's 'pestering' her all day. She passed with decent grades, but they all knew she could do it better. But it wasn't her fault! All they taught at the Academy was boring! On important matters, her chakra control improved greatly thanks to the Uchiha boy's tips and she mastered the tree climbing and worked on the water walking exercise.

The three kept talking and waiting for the white-haired girl, but soon minutes turned into hours and the sun started to set. After a few minutes the Uzumaki Twins needed to leave since they had an appointment with the Hokage, "I'm deeply sorry Yuu, but we have to go. Please say hi to Tsuki-san" Naruto felt Yuu's concern and found himself worrying more, "After we're done with the Hokage we'll search for her, okay?" The navy-haired boy nodded with a small forced smile and the Twins dropped down the tree.

The Uchiha boy decided to wait for a few minutes but soon the only remaining light were the street lamps. He sighed and jumped off, cushioning his fall with chakra, "Man... doesn't she know how to treat a gentleman? Leaving him waiting isn't nice" he laughed at his own joke but soon the silence of the night got to him once again.

He decided to get a walk around the park and think about things... his nightmares were gone by now, the blood disappeared from his hands, he managed to block the image and the voice of the dying man inside his head... what lovely thoughts to have while walking alone in a pitch dark place! 'I think I'm going crazy...'

His thoughts steered to his sister's personality. He still didn't understand why she hadn't supported their friends a year ago... and why she still hadn't apologized. She avoided Mito, Naruto and even Tsukiko like they were the plague... but he still didn't know the truth.

Neither he knew the truth behind the villagers and his own clan's despise towards the Uzumaki Twins...

Nor knew why his brother was acting weirdly...

The boy felt a slight pain inside him and he grabbed his heart. Lies were painful... did truth hurt more?

He didn't know either.

His mother's words were still in his mind. People lie to deceive or to protect... he could understand the first, seeing as shinobi lied about their abilities or other things to their advantage and he had no problem in doing it. But... lie to protect? How could you protect someone by lying?...

'I'm fine, I just tumbled' 'Its nothing, I just... have to go to the bathroom' 'I'm just playing with you' Tsukiko's voice echoed inside his head and he pondered... why was she lying? And what about?

Then... revelation struck him. He felt his eyes widen.

No...

His legs started to get weaker...

No, it... couldn't be...

He heard his breathing, it became heavier and heavier...

How could he be... that stupid?...

The boy put a firm leg to stop his tumbling and slowly began to recover his composure. His breathing was even again, his legs stopped shaking... but he shook his head quickly and disappeared in a burst of speed. He needed to be fast.

"Room for Tsukiko, please" the secretary stopped writing and looked at the nearest clock,

"Sorry, but visiting time is over... please come again tomorrow" she said without much care and kept writing on a page. Yuu stared at her with cold, unblinking eyes and she felt the glare, "Sir, I told you that..." when her eyes locked with the boy's she found herself unable to look away. The hypnotic spinning of the beautiful red-eye...

"Tell me the room for Tsukiko, please" Yuu tried once again and this time the woman nodded slowly with lost, unfocused brown eyes,

"Room 102 sir, right hall, up the stairs, second door to the left" she spoke in monotone and the boy nodded his head and in a second he was gone.

The woman's eyes became focused again and she blinked a few times. She looked around before shrugging and continue to write her report of the day. 'Nothing special'

'Room 102' Yuu confirmed that this was indeed the room, but once he reached for the door knob he paralyzed. The boy suddenly felt scared... what was behind the door? Was he prepared for it? He shook his head out of his thoughts and frowned. Of course he was. He told his mother that he would endure the truth...

With a deep intake of air he twisted the knob slowly, peeking inside the room but found only darkness. He fully entered and as quiet as possible closed the door behind him. Indeed, it was all dark... perhaps he got bad the number of the room...

"Hm?... Is someone there?..." A familiar if somewhat sleepy voice erased any doubts Yuu had on his mind and a pair of vibrant blue eyes greeted him from the middle, "Y-Yuu-kun!? W-What are you-" she was interrupted by a serie of grave coughs. The navy-haired boy's heart clenched at each cough, but he somehow managed to hid it behind an emotionless mask.

He turned on the lights and with speed that surprised the white-haired girl, grabbed a chair and put it beside her bed. Yuu sat down and this time looked, actually looked, at Tsukiko's figure. She lied on the bed with her white-gown that right now seemed fused with her sickly pale skin. The girl also had pronounced dark circles around her eyes, increasing her ill appearance. Her cerulean orbs, though they shone in the darkness, he saw how dimmed they really were.

She controlled her coughing fit and addressed her friend with a smile, "S-Sorry you have to see me in this state... I had no time for makeu-" Yuu cut her when he couldn't take it anymore and embraced her. Surprise was clearly seen in her eyes, but it quickly left understanding and she hugged him back.

"Tell me... what's wrong Tsuki-hime" he spoke with finality on his voice and the girl couldn't say no to it.

"I...I..." she started in barely a whisper. It was the first time she confessed this to anyone, and so telling the truth was hard, "I'm sick..." Tsukiko said simply and felt Yuu's arms trembling slightly.

"How grave is it?" Despite how confident it sounded, Yuu really felt devastated inside. He made this realization on the park, but actually hearing it was... so painful...

"Y-Yuu... I..." she tried to change the subject but Yuu didn't let her,

"How grave is it?" He asked once again but added softly, "Please... tell me the truth..."

The sole pleading tone he used was enough to get her defenses down and the girl opened for the first time in years, "It's... terminal"

When the boy heard those words he tightened his grip around Tsukiko, fearing that he let go she would disappear. He felt years and years of training all drained away in a single moment and his heart being crushed down. So this... _this _was truth...

"H-How long?" he managed to get out, though the weakness on his voice humiliated him. But... it didn't matter anymore.

Tsukiko heard Yuu's voice breaking, but decided to answer him, "Just a couple of years left... I knew it as far as I can remember... I... I'm sorry for not telling you"

Tears fell freely from his eyes and started wetting the girl's back. He didn't try to stop them from falling... it didn't matter... he let both arms fall limply at his sides and slowly stood up,

"Yuu-kun? What are you doing?" Tsukiko asked and wiped her own tears. The wet trails were still visible on the boy's cheeks and he started at her with soulless, half-lidded eyes and smiled at her. Her breath hitched in her throat at the sight, it just looked so... unnatural and fake.

"I'll be back, tomorrow" he said in a tone devoid of any emotion and walked away at a slow pace,

"W-What do you mean!? Academy starts tomorrow! Hey! Yuu!" The boy only stopped at the door once again and looked at her with the same dead eyes,

"I'll be back tomorrow, I promise..."

* * *

Mikoto waited for her son to arrive home with her arms crossed and a scowl. He was late! Almost an hour late already! The instant he opened the door she will-!

The door opened slowly and in came the small figure of Yuu. His mother stomped her feet and her eyebrow twitched, "Uchiha Yuu! What do you think you... are... doing..." her scolding became a whisper when he just ignored her completely and started walking up the stairs. "Yuu! Stop right there in this instant or else-!"

The boy halted and slowly turned around. He addressed his mother without any visible emotion, making her flinch, and spoke in a low whisper, "I... found the truth..." with that he left his mother alone on the stairs and she blinked a few times,

"Yuu?"

He heard Sasuki's voice but didn't acknowledge her presence. He kept walking towards his room in a zombie-like manner. His sister looked at him with worry but quickly crushed that emotion. If he ignored her then... she will ignore him too. With a huff she closed the door to her bedroom.

Mikoto watched all this and shook her head, sadness in her eyes. Years ago they were inseparable... and now, this... wasn't she a good mother? Perhaps getting Yuu his own room wasn't the best idea. She should've let them sleep together...

She tried opening Yuu's room to talk with him, but he locked it. With a resigned sigh she left him alone for the night. She would definitely talk to her son tomorrow.

The next day when Sasuki entered his twin brother's room to wake him up, all she found was a written letter that said, 'I'm at the hospital. Home at 8 p.m.' The girl grabbed the letter and took it to her mother. 'What is Yuu doing at the hospital?...' she jolted out of her thoughts and narrowed her eyes. Not her problem.

Mikoto read the letter a few more time and decided it was Yuu's handwriting. She felt worried about how strange he behaved last night, but... "What do you mean to leave him alone Fugaku?"

The clan head looked at her with his usual stoic expression and repeated what he just said, "He's old enough to settle his own problems"

"But what if he's injured? What if he needs his mother right now?" Mikoto argued with a little edge on her tone. They were talking about _her _son. Her maternal instincts were screaming at her that something was wrong.

Fugaku didn't change his expression, but his eyes steeled at her, "I personally taught him. He doesn't need any extra help and... there are more important things that require your attention right now"

Mikoto was left speechless at that and only could nod her head. The clan's wellbeing came first and she knew it but... her baby boy...

Sasuki heard all the conversation hiding in a corner. Of course, they didn't mind her listening... and she knew it. Both of her parents were highly trained ninja and if they didn't want her to listen then she couldn't. 'Kaa-san sounds really worried...' she didn't see Yuu's face yesterday night, but by her mother's tone... it sounded pretty bad. She felt a little bad at herself for ignoring him like that... yeah, she would talk to him when he got back.

Her mother rounded the corner with a troubled expression that she quickly covered up with a smile when she saw Sasuki, "C'mon Sasuki, Itachi's waiting for you..."

The girl quietly nodded but then grinned at her, "Are you coming?" she asked excitedly. It was her first day again, so surely her parents will accompany her again, right?

Mikoto smile faltered and her hands closed, "Oh sorry sweetheart, I can't go..."

Sasuki dropped her smile and visibly deflated, "And what about father?" she asked in a more reserved tone.

The woman turned to look at the door behind her with a sigh, "He's busy with clan affairs Sasuki... but don't worry he'll-"

"So you only come when Yuu's involved?" She interrupted her mother. Mikoto narrowed her eyes at her and was about to scold her when she noticed her trembling figure,

"Sasuki you now that isn't true. We're really busy right now-"

"Itachi-nii got promoted and he's still coming!" the girl replied with teared eyes, her pent-up anger getting to a boiling point, "Just say it! You love him more than me! You prefer Yu-"

Sasuki eyes opened in shock when her head twisted violently and she felt an aching sting on her cheek. She slowly turned to look at her mother again and trailed the direction of her extended arm. There was no doubt, Mikoto just... slapped her. Mikoto couldn't believe she just hit her daughter... she reacted completely on instinct, she didn't mean to- "Why?..." came the low whisper from the small girl. She stopped trembling and stared intently at the floor, just waiting for an answer.

"S-Sweetheart I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Mikoto tried to speak fluently, but just short excuses escaped her mouth.

Sasuki rushed out of the room without another word and the woman shakily looked at her hand. What was happening? She just went with what her body told her to. Did she really favored Yuu over Sasuki? She never hit any of her children before, not even Itachi...

* * *

Yuu walked through Konoha's streets with both hands inside his pocket and lost in his thoughts. Well, in reality he kept hitting himself mentally. How could he lose his composure so easily yesterday? Now he probably made Tsukiko worry more than she should...

It seriously pained him, but he chose to know the truth and he would endure it. He would spent everyday with the white-haired girl... and not only that, but search for a cure. Yeah, he won't let Kami, fate, destiny or whatever crap to take her away, less an illness. He was a prodigy of prodigies, a genius kid... he could do it.

The boy also decided to not tell Naruto, Mito or Sasuki about it. Tsukiko decided to trust in him and he will wait for her to tell them with her mouth.

He didn't care that he will lose his chance at the Academy... yeah, it could wait! He heard about how Itachi graduated in just 1 year and a half! Well, he would do the same!

Yuu opened the door 102 and stepped inside. The girl looked better than the day before and she sat on her bed, a small smile adorning her face. Seeing emotions once again in Yuu's eyes made her breathe in relief and felt a huge weight off her shoulders lift. "Are you... feeling better?" she asked a little uncertainly and he shook his head,

"I should be the one asking you that" he answered with his usual friendly smirk and plopped himself on the same chair from last night unceremoniously, earning the signature giggle from his friend,

"Shishishi... I see... what about Academy?" She was glad Yuu didn't change over the fact of her sickness, but the thought of troubling him worried her.

Yuu shrugged his shoulders, "What of it?"

The girl looked at him incredulously, "Shouldn't you be... I don't know... inside?"

He chuckled at that, "Meh, I'll worry about it later. For now..." the boy looked outside the window, the sun began to rise... a small smile crossed his face and he turned to her once more, "could you tell me exactly what happened? If you want, that is"

Tsukiko casted a concerned gaze towards him, "A-Are you sure? Yesterday you seemed..."

"Broken?" he supplied and she nodded warily, "I digested the news. Now I want to hear the whole story... and you'll feel even better after it" the white-haired girl sighed, seeing as the boy won't back down now, and started her story,

"Well... there is nothing much to say... I inherited this illness from my mother a few months after I was born. She died from childbirth, since the sickness weakened her greatly..." she spoke grimly and looked at him with sad eyes, "As long as I can remember the nurses always told me that my time was counted, that I had a terminal sickness, though at the time I didn't even know what it was, it sounded bad. I never left the hospital..." The girl looked at the window with a lost expression, "Everyday I looked down the window and saw kids playing, parents talking, birds chirping and flying... and I imagined myself being there... it gave me a little hope..."

"They hired a teacher to teach me how to write and read. I learned quickly. At just 3 years old I could read books alone. And that's what I did..." a hollow laugh escaped her lips and it sent a shiver down Yuu's spine, "I read and read... and read... imagined myself on impossible and fantastical scenarios..." she opened her arms wide to add emotion, "then... a... medic-nin..." she hesitated a bit on this part, he noted "came to me and told me that he could start a... special treatment. It would decrease my lifetime, but I would be able to... see the outside world!" She smiled sadly at him, "My dreams of making friends! Of running and playing! Finally came true! And so I accepted..." Yuu looked at her with disbelief.

"From Monday until Friday I took drug after drug, so I could left my cursed room on Saturday's and Sunday's... but I guess I reached my limit now..." She finished quietly and true to Yuu's words she actually felt better...

On the other hand Yuu was barely managing to keep his composure again. But... Tsukiko's smile... it made it all better. So this... was sharing a burden with a friend.

"Thanks for listening Yuu-kun... It's the first time I say this to anyone" she told him with a cheerful smile and a thumbs-up, "And you were right! I feel better!"

The boy shook his head. Leave it to Tsukiko to find happiness where there wasn't any. He decided to ask her a question pondering his head for a while now, "What... exactly is your disease? Does it have a name? What it does?" The more information he got, the better.

The girl put a finger on her chin in a traditional thinking pose, "Like I said, I apparently inherited it from my mother. The doctors don't tell me much about it... just that it slowly eats my internal organs. My treatment was supposed to stop that process for two days, but it accelerated every time"

Yuu nodded slowly at her... he would investigate about it later. It sounded so... vague...

They stayed in a comfortable silence, or so Yuu thought. "It's... so unfair..." she started in no more than a whisper. After telling her story she felt great, but now... all of her painful memories were resurfacing. Everything she swallowed and locked up... the children's laughter when she couldn't move out of her bed, people happy faces everyday, oblivious to the suffering of other people... why was everything so unfair! "I want to grow up with you! Keep laughing, playing, making good memories... I... don't want to die yet! I want to see you all graduate for Academy! I... I..."

The Uchiha boy hugged her like yesterday... though more gently and not so desperate. It was the first thing it came to his mind. She spoke the truth, this was unfair... "Don't worry anymore Tsuki-hime" she still didn't reciprocated the hug and sobbed on his shoulder, "We'll keep on creating good memories. We'll laugh together, grow up together, see the world together... I'll find a cure, I promise"

The white-haired girl couldn't take it anymore and hugged him back. 'Why?... I already accepted and embraced death a long time ago...Yuu... why do you make me want to live again?...' Tsukiko looked at how calm and composed the boy was right now... determined... like he could really do it, 'I promise I'll protect you, Tsuki-hime' his voice rang through her head. She considered herself a lost case and despite all the hope the doctors tried to give her, she refused to believe she could live anymore. Then why, when Yuu was just a boy said the same thing... why she believed him? She had accepted her fate as just bad luck, but when she was with him it all seemed... unfair...

"Thank... you..."

* * *

**A/N: Done. Remember the poll, check it out and vote! Please! I'm begging you! (Let's try a different approach)**


	9. Ch 8: Second year

**A/N: I'm alive. 'Nuff said, here you have another chapter. I finished writing the entire plot, I just need to polish some details. Oh, and sorry for the delay.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

* * *

"So? What are your favorite ones?" Yuu set his mind on changing the subject, to avoid causing Tsukiko more grief. Finally he got her to calm down and she smiled at him with a new-found appreciation. Oh, don't get her wrong… she always appreciated all of her friends since she met them, but now… the Uchiha boy seemed more close to her than anyone.

She… 'Oh, no… don't say the word Tsukiko!' the white-haired girl squealed on her mind. 'Since when…?' she looked at him… and damn he was cute. His looks were girly actually, but a gorgeous girly. His round, big and warm eyes looking at her with care… Yuu's arms seemed skinny, but he held her protectively with a steel grip, she thought nobody could take her away if he wanted.

Darn, did he have a 6-pack? 'No! Naughty lady! Stop thinking of him like that' she shouted in her mind and tried to hide her blush. Gladly, his concerned voice broke her out of the stupor,

"Tsuki-hime? Are you feeling alright?"

His lips moved in slow motion inside Tsukiko's mind, like inviting her to have a taste… 'This is getting annoying! Get a hold of your hormones, girl!' she shook her head violently and giggled sheepishly, "Shishishi… I am! Don't worry, just thinking…"

"Are you sure?" he asked and closed their distance to put a hand on her forehead. "You're a little flushed" His face was merely few inches from her and she could feel his breathing tickling her skin,

'Okay! You aren't helping at all!' she whined mentally and opened her mouth as to say something, but just a cute and small whimper came out. Yuu watched her with a piercing gaze and she couldn't help but squirm under his touch, breathe and stare, "J-Just give me a moment please! Y-You're invading my personal space!" 'You could invade it all you want, hottie' another voice inside her head added and she blushed again, embarrassed.

The navy-haired boy backed as soon as he heard those words. Oh man, he didn't want to pressure her! Now what if something happened? Oh Kami, such an irresponsible friend he was! He probably made her uncomfortable… "I'm so sorry Tsuki-hime, I didn't mean to… it's just I was worried you see… and…"

And now she felt guilty seeing his 'I am to blame for everything' face. Great. "It's nothing Yuu-kun, I don't mind it if it's you..." Yuu stopped apologizing and turned to her with a confused expression. She pondered her last few words and quickly blushed _again._ 'Where did that come from? Urghhh!' she waved her hands nervously and reassured him, "I... I don't mind because you're... my... my best-friend! Yeah, my best-friend! That's why I don't mind! Shishishi..." 'Did you just said that? So lame!' the same voice mockingly spoke again in her head, but this time she ignored it.

Yuu stopped being confused and smiled at her, the most beautiful thing she had seen in her entire life! Not handsome, _beautiful._ Why did she find this smile different? It was like all his previous ones, but it just felt different. "Yeah... I'm your best-friend... and you're mine too!" this simply phrase, which didn't hold any other meaning, made her heart skip a bit. In the good way, not in the 'oh my god I'm dying way'. She felt her blood flow into her cheeks again and Tsukiko lowered her face, trying to hide the obvious blush which contrasted with her pale skin.

It sounded almost possessive inside her mind, but she knew better than this. He didn't mean it any other way... or did he? He was a prodigy, so he wouldn't be so dense... still, he was 7 years old only. She was too, but she read a lot about relationships. What? Happy-love stories were awesome!

"So..." he started again and she managed to get her blush under control... for now. Perhaps the boy knew it already and was playing with her as vengeance for not telling him the truth?... darn. Well, she now knew that lying to Yuu was a bad idea. A very bad idea, "What are your favorite ones?" his voice shook Tsukiko out of her thoughts for the moment and she considered his question,

"Favorite what?" she asked a little bluntly for her tastes. All this hormonal thing affected her lady-skills. 'Yeah, recover your composure!'

"Your favorite books, Tsuki-hime" Oh, well, easy question with a quick answer.

"I love romantic stories"

Yuu waited a few seconds for more information, but sweat-dropped when the girl didn't say anything else, "So... romantic ones?..."

The white-haired girl smiled and nodded, "Yep! Shishishi, especially the ones with princesses who need princes to save them... or the other way 'round" A little childlike? She knew little about relationships and she was sure they didn't work in real life like they did in books, but she had some hope... that a prince would come to save her. Perhaps Yuu was her prince? 'Aughhh! Stop blushing!'

"Uhm?" The Uchiha boy gained a confused expression with the last statement, "The other way around? I don't think delicate princesses can... save princes"

Tsukiko stopped trying to hide her blush and frowned, "What do you mean by that? Girls are strong too, you know"

Yuu caught the dangerous tone and a shiver ran down his spine. Well, his mother was certainly powerful and Sasuki surely wasn't a laughing matter... "Well yeah, you're right..." but he heard from Itachi that a real man and shinobi protected his precious people, he didn't need any protection. Everyone told him that his strength and intelligence was beyond prodigious, his chakra reserves were immense and his control was getting better each day... No, he wouldn't need anyone to protect him. 'I will find a cure... definitely. Even if I have to quit the Ninja Academy... I'm already strong enough'

* * *

Sasuki ate her lunch with narrowed eyes and a thoughtful expression for a 7 year old. The Uchiha girl was sitting alone in a bench on the rooftop of the Ninja Academy, away from all the noise and annoying pestering from the kids. It was funny to play with them, but when it came to this... they all sucked. It was at times like this that she missed their company... Naruto knew how to cheer her up with just a few words and a kind smile...

She shook her head from the thoughts and kept eating her home-made bento. Her hand came up and rubbed her sore cheek unwittingly, blocked memories from a week ago resurfacing. Why did it hurt so much? She got injuries worse than this from training... but the pain from the slap didn't fade away, it was a constant ache... confirming her theories about her family liking Yuu more. He never got hit like this...

But she was a Uchiha! And not just a member, but the heiress of the clan head! She was an elite of elites! Why didn't everybody appreciate her like she deserved? Yuu got everything, intelligence and natural talent, attention and respect from everyone...

Her father always looked at her with his disapproving gaze, even after she trained and trained on her kunoichi skills, day after day without rest! 'Perhaps... perhaps it's better if I just... disappear...'

"Are you okay?"

Sasuki awoke from her thoughts thanks to a sudden voice beside her. She turned her head to see sun-kissing blond hair, cerulean eyes like the sky, easy-going smile... obviously her former best-friend, Naruto. "Uh?" she opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it. She didn't know what to say, so she simply grunted and turned away once more... Until she felt his hand caressing her cheek. She was about to retort violently when she felt the wetness in her face 'A-Am I... crying?' she got so engrossed inside her mind that she didn't notice the tears leaking...

Naruto slowly backed away his hand when he saw the disgusted face the girl made and repeated his question, "Are you okay?" he saw the girl leaving the classroom to eat lunch alone and decided to ask her what happened, seeing that Yuu didn't come to school. But he didn't expect to find the proud Uchiha girl crying while looking blankly into space. Now he got worried.

Sasuki's mind slowly processed the boy's words, still tired from all the emotional stress, but quickly caught up with the situation. Sasuki widened her eyes and jumped backwards in a defensive position, rubbing her tears frantically with the back of her hands, "I-It isn't your problem, go away..." her cheeks remained flushed from embarrassment of being seen crying and by Naruto. He would probably tell everyone else to get revenge on her for leaving them...

Naruto put both his hands up in a placating manner and advanced at a moderate pace towards the girl, "Sasuki-chan, something is troubling you... I can see it in your eyes. Please tell me what it is?" he spoke gently and narrowed avoided a hit to the face, courtesy of the angry girl.

Something about his calm exterior and smile finally made Sasuki snap and she quickly sent a straight punch to erase the expression from his face. The boy managed to avoid her punch by jumping backwards while the girl registered what happened and didn't press the attack. She moved with surprising agility and speed, Naruto noted, and if she kept attacking he doubted he could block every hit.

The Ninja Academy didn't let them spar yet, but the blond surely didn't want her as an opponent.

"Why don't you ask me about Yuu and go away!? That's all you want right!? Everything it's about Yuu!" Sasuki yelled at him and more tears started to pour out. Nobody cared for her, just Itachi... and now he began to ignore her too. She broke down in front of Kenji's group and all they did was laugh at her weakness. A Uchiha should never show his or her emotions like this. And now Naruto would probably make fun of her too.

The blond's eyes widened slightly at the emotion coming from her voice. He heard from Yuu that the Uchiha clan never let their feelings to surface so easily, one of the reasons Yuu asked for tips in emotional masks. About the navy-haired boy, he didn't come to school in the entire week, getting the Uzumaki twins really worried. Plus, Sasuki's behavior got worse. She stared blankly at her desk, not hearing anything at all, ignoring everyone around her... and now Naruto knew why.

"Are... you jealous?" Naruto asked uncertainly and saw the girl's trembling hands suddenly halt. The atmosphere turned cold and the blond regretted saying that aloud, "Sasuki-cha-!"

"Shut up!" Sasuki screamed and covered her ears, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" the girl repeated, her knees starting to buckle from an unseen pressure.

The Uzumaki boy face-vaulted mentally at his own stupidity. Of course all the girls were like Mito... you knew what was happening, she knew what was happening, but mentioning it was an unforgivable sin. He discarded the 'advance slowly' option and try a different approach. With a burst of speed he was beside her, though the weight seals slowed him a big time, "Shh- calm down Sasuki-chan, everything's alright. I'm sorry, I was a complete idiot so please forgive my incompetence"

The screaming gradually ceased, until the only thing left were the girl's sniffs. She rubbed her eyes, a little ashamed of her yelling a few seconds ago... but it was the blond's fault! He hit her in a nerve!, "Yeah... you're an idiot..." she said between sobs.

Naruto rolled his eyes, not that the girl will notice...

"Hey... you are rolling your eyes right now, aren't you?"

Never mind... sometimes girls were scary. He chuckled and shook his head, "Sorry, sorry. They moved on their own" the boy checked the girl over one more time, smiling when he caught her giggling.

"Yeah right" she replied with sarcasm dripping in her voice. Then reality struck her. She was talking normally with her ex-bestfriend. One of the so called 'freak' or 'abomination'... if one of her clansmen saw her right now she'll... right, like if any of those proud idiots could make her feel better. And the only ones who could were Mikoto, Itachi and... her brother. Mikoto and Yuu were out of the question for obvious reasons and Itachi went on a mission a few days ago...

So this was her opportunity to apologize. Yeah, she wasn't good with this stuff, but it should be easy... Yuu always told her 'It isn't something you can't handle, because there aren't many stuff YOU can't handle' and he was right. A little 'sorry' won't stop the great Uchiha Sasuki!

With a nod, she made up her mind and looked right at him, "Naruto! I am-!" he addressed her with his pretty sky-blue eyes, his blond hair shining thanks tot he sun... his face got sharper, as he lose some baby-fat, though it wasn't much noticeable. When he got this... handsome? "I-I... I am..." the girl tried to finish, but couldn't. Slowly her gaze dropped and she began shifting her feet nervously. 'Snap out of it! Why can't I say it!? What is happening so sudden!?'

"You are... what?" The boy asked, a little freaked out by now. Weird behavior? Dangerous. Again, something Mito taught him... but he could feel something weird in the air. He couldn't tell exactly what was it, but it got stronger and stronger... he never felt anything like this.

Sasuki shook her head and put both hands on her cheeks, making herself look up, right into the doubtful filled blue eyes of Naruto, "I am sorry, okay!"

"Sorry...?" The blond repeated uncertainly, not believing the words he just heard. The proud Uchiha Sasuki apologizing to him. A small chuckle escaped his lips, "For what?"

"You know why!" Sasuki answered easily. She didn't want to explain why! It was just so... embarrassing! Even more than actually saying sorry.

Naruto smirked a little. Yeah, this would be her punishment, "But I don't remember why... if you don't specify, how can I forgive you?"

The Uchiha girl took a deep breath to soothe her nerves. For just this moment... she would discard her pride as an Uchiha. Right now she needed someone to support her, to be there for her. She didn't know what she had until she lost it. Though she didn't admit it, Sasuki really missed her friendship with the Uzumaki Twins... "Forgive me for... for being an idiot okay? I wasn't thinking at that time, I just wanted my clan to see me! But I didn't realize... they were even more idiots than I! So please... I want to be your best-friend again... or at least let me be your friend"

The blond's eyes widened. He didn't expect... this, Sasuki being so honest. Her hands were trembling, she shifted her feet around nervously, couldn't make eye contact... The boy couldn't talk, opening his mouth but closing it again when no words came out. He didn't know what to say. 'I forgive you' sounded way plain after the confession.

The Uchiha girl saw his hesitance and immediately regretted saying all the previous stuff, "O-Oh, it's okay if you... can't forgive me. I mean, I deserve it... right? Ha, ha" she laughed forcefully and Naruto still couldn't say anything... "I just... I think I should go... this was stupid" the girl turned to face the entrance door and wiped a few tears.

The Uzumaki boy watched all this, but still no words came out of his mouth. The girl started to leave and he decided, it was now or never. If he let her go now, perhaps they would never be friends again. If she crossed the door, it was all over. With that in mind, Naruto mustered up a lot of courage, grabbed her leaving hand with his own and shouted, "WAIT!"

All the birds on the rooftop flew away at the same time, scared by the intensity of the noise. A few villagers turned around to the Academy Building, but shrugged after a few seconds and kept walking.

A deafening silence followed the Naruto's shout and both stayed paralyzed on the same position, with him grabbing Sasuki's hand and facing the girl's back. The Uchiha girl remained quiet, mostly for the surprise. She didn't expect Naruto to do this... she slowly turned her head to address the boy, who kept his hand over hers.

'Wow Mito's right... this feels pretty good...' The blond mused internally, though he quickly shook the thoughts and concentrated on the current matter. For the first time, the quiet and reserved Uzumaki Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs... and probably alerted half of the village that something was happening on the Ninja Academy. Not to mention the actual students of the Academy... but in his defence, he didn't know he had the same lungs as Mito! A blush creeped on his face and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "S-Sorry about the shout..." Sasuki just kept staring at him with an impassive face and he took it as a sign to continue, "A-Anyway, I... I forgive you Sasuki-chan, of course I do"

The Uchiha girl's eyes increased in size and started to tear up again, when a huge smile that occupied her entire face appeared, "Y-You do? That's... that's great" The girl didn't know why she felt so happy, but right now she didn't feel like questioning it. Also, she didn't know what to say. "So... we're friends again... this wasn't so hard..." Sasuki looked down and blushed, quickly turning to her right, "You can let my hand go now..."

Naruto's expression changed to one of confusion and then embarrassment, releasing his hold on the girl's hand, "Sorry about that, I got carried away Sasuki-chan" he apologized quickly and bowed a little.

As soon as he let go, Sasuki felt weird inside... like something was missing. Her blush deepened when she realized that it was Naruto's hand. 'What is happening to me!?' she asked herself. 'His hand is way too warm and comfortable, it's unfair!'

"Nii-chan! Are you here!?" A loud, cheerful voice interrupted their moment. Sasuki and Naruto tried to hide their blush, but before they could conceal it completely, the door burst open. "Iruka-sensei is... worried about... you..." What started as a yell finished as nothing more than a whisper when Mito processed the image of her brother blushing with her former best friend... and then came the anger, "What are you doing with _her_!?" _  
_

A shiver ran down Naruto's back when his sister glare downed upon him. 'Oh no... she's mad...' he thought fearfully and backed away unwittingly, his hands moving in a placating manner, trying to subdue a dangerous beast. "M-Mito-chan! I-I can explain this! S-Sasuki only came here to apologize!"

"What!?" Mito screeched and both of the other kids cringed at the sharp tone, "Apologize!?" her glare moved to Sasuki, who only frowned and returned the gesture without a single trace of fear, unlike Naruto who was actually trembling. He really didn't want to interfere, so he hoped things didn't get out of control. Where the hell was Yuu when you needed him!?

"That's right to-ma-to head. I came here to apologize for what I did, you've got a problem with it!?" She spoke cooly in a nonchalant manner that she knew pissed off the red-haired girl. And she was right. In no more than a few seconds, Mito was right at Sasuki's face, both of their foreheads fighting in a battle of dominance with the two girls gritting her teeth from the force and rage.

"I won't forgive you for that! You really hurt us!" Mito paused for a bit and then added angrily, "And don't call me tomato you... you... stupid, traitorous and ugly baby!"

Sasuki applied more strength to the match and started to push away the Uzumaki girl... with nothing but her forehead that now had a tick-mark, "Who are you calling a baby!? I'm older than you, stupid!" she then remembered why they were fighting and smirked, "Oh, and guess what? He" she pointed at Naruto with her finger, "already forgave me!"

The sun-kissing blond face-vaulted at the floor 'Really? You had to throw me in there didn't you?' he thought and then felt a piercing stare from his sister, who frowned dangerously at him, 'Oh no... she's mad! I've got to run away now!... wait... I'm laying on the floor! Why the heck did I face-vault at a time like thi-' "OOF!" The air went out of Naruto's lungs when Mito's elbow collided with his stomach. 'Genius...' the blond hit himself mentally.

Sasuki stared with her mouth agape. She didn't believe Mito would actually do... well this. She underestimated her. Recovering her bearings, the Uchiha girl shook her head and frowned upon the scene with with a little of embarrassment, "Hey! Why would you hit him!? He didn't do anything wrong!"

Naruto turned to her with an expression of disbelief making Sasuki blush a darker shade of red. Unknown to them Mito watched their expression change and puffed out her cheeks childishly. "He did! He can't forgive you this easily!"

"Well? How about I invite you both to Ichiraku Ramen after school?" The Uchiha girl commented offhandedly, but inside she hoped it would work.

"I love you Uchiha Sasuki! Be my wife!"

* * *

Mito breathe out a relieved sigh and put away her 6th bowl of ramen. She covered a small burp with the back of her hand and patted her belly, "Oh man, I'm full. Ichiraku's great as ever 'ttebane!"

Naruto flicked his sister's forehead and gave her a disappointed look, "How many times do I have to tell you, you're a lady even when you're eating. So behave like it... or try to!"

The red-haired girl stuck her tongue out at him, "You're such a girl sometimes, nii-chan! Relax!"

"Relax? But I'm rela- whatever. At least thank Sasuki for the treat" Naruto gave up and bowed a little to Sasuki, who only laughed at their little interaction. Mito watched her from the corner of her eye, but resigned herself to do it with a over-exaggerated sigh,

"Alright, alright. Thank you for the food, Sasuki..." the Uzumaki girl recited in a monotone voice, like a scolded-child... well, she was a scolded-child.

"And...?" Naruto compelled her to continue and she obeyed her brother with another exaggerated sigh,

"I forgive you, Sasuki. We can be friends again... but I won't if you ever betray us again, okay!? So you better be careful. Not even a hundred Ichiraku's Ramen treats can help you if you do" She started in monotone again, but soon added more feeling and ended up in a serious note.

"Are you sure?" The Uchiha girl asked with a playful tone and a smirk. She doubted the red-haired girl could ever resist the 'Ramen temptation'.

Mito pouted, crossed her arms and turned away with a huff, "100% sure, don't doubt it 'ttebane!"

Naruto and Sasuki looked at eachother before they burst into a fit of chuckles and giggles respectively. The red-haired girl gained an indignant expression,

"Hey! Why are you laughing? I'm serious 'ttebane!"

Her brother got his laughter under control and scratched the back of his head, "We're sorry Mito-chan..."

"You better be..." the girl muttered quietly and looked at Sasuki, "So? Are you going to tell us where is Yuu?"

The Uchiha girl stopped laughing at that moment and the atmosphere turned serious. She did promise she would tell them after they finished eating, so... "He left a note saying he went to the hospital. He didn't write anything else on it, other than he grabbed some scrolls on Chakra Control from the personal library"

"The hospital?" Naruto repeated with a doubtful expression on his face, "Why would he?... And your father didn't say anything about it?"

Sasuki smiled bitterly and shook her head, "From my father point of view, Yuu is a saint and can't ever do anything wrong" she gripped the table unconsciously, "Whatever he does is right..." the wood started creaking from the pressure, "Whatever I do is a disappointment..." she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Naruto giving her a comforting smile. She slowly let go of the wood with a few cracks and took deep and long breaths to calm herself down 'I... need to control myself...'

The blond kept his hand on Sasuki's shoulder and made a 'hmm' sound, deep inside his thoughts. Judging by everything he heard from Sasuki and Yuu, Fugaku wasn't someone to let his son miss a single day of the Academy nor lack off, so something seemed off here...

Mito saw the Uchiha's girl smile turn into a one of relief from her brother's physical contact and felt a tinge of pain inside her. Her lips began to quiver and she frowned, but quickly covered it with a foxy grin and called cheerfully, "Hey! I know!" She stood up from her chair, surprising the other two kids, "Let's go to the hospital! We can search for Yuu and ask him what's wrong!"

"I guess we could..." Naruto muttered and nodded to himself. He too stood up and walked to the exit, when he saw the hesitance on Sasuki's part, "Sasuki-chan... is something wrong?"

"Y-Yeah I am, don't worry. It's just... I have training with Shisui-sensei and I can't be late" The Uchiha girl spoke with uncertainty. Mito shook her head and grabbed her hand, forcing her to stand up and began her way to the hospital. Sasuki squirmed on the red-haired girl's grip, but to no avail. Her strength was superior... "W-what are you doing!? Tomato head! Let me go!"

Mito snorted in a very unladylike manner and kept walking, ignoring the other girl protests, "Oh come on, don't be such a scaredy-cat. It isn't going to take long! Aren't you curious!? Not even a little!?"

"I am not a scaredy-cat, tomato head! I am an Uchiha and you should-"

"Here you go again with how amazing the Uchiha are and how much I need to respect you" Mito rolled her eyes and sighed in a exaggerated fashion, "If you're so 'Uchiha' as you say, then you won't have a problem with this..." Sasuki's eyebrows started twitching and she broke out of Mito's hold.

"Hah! Fine! I'll show you how amazing I am!" The Uchiha girl declared proudly and lifted her hand into the air, "The first one to arrive is the winner!"

Both girls looked at eachother, then back at the road and once again their eyes met. In the blink of an eye, both of them started running without any other comment leaving a trail of dusts behind, with a face-palming Naruto a couple feet away. Sasuki's pride was exactly like Mito's love for ramen. Very easy to exploit.

The blond chuckled and shook his head. The boy needed to admit, he started missing the girl's antics and their competitiveness towards one another. Kind of like him and Yuu, but with more enthusiasm and feeling into it. He scratched the back of his head like he always did and decided they had enough of a start. Naruto burst out running at impressive speed, making Sasuki's and Mito's look like child's play.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading and as always, all your reviews, favorites and follows are appreciated. I should start canon in less than 5 chapters... I think. And don't worry, they're going to be up soon. **

**Oh, by the way... I apologize if you're tired of fluffiness or this first arc? I don't know how to call it. Anyway, I dislike including meaningless fights so... yeah, a hint for the future. Every battle has a meaning and a reason behind it. Though... I think my first battle (Itachi vs Fugaku) didn't have a solid conclusion to it. They didn't want to battle at all. I think shinobi understand eachother better while they're fighting or after it.**

**Well enough of this. **


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